


Supergirl: (TV 2015) - Season 2(a) - New Beginnings

by m95838



Category: DC Comics, Milestone Media (Comics), Supergirl (TV 2015), Wonder Woman (1976)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Lusty Kara Danvers, Multi, Other, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 62,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25581001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m95838/pseuds/m95838
Summary: This work is an Alternate Universe based on CW's Supergirl.  The intention is to keep Season 1 of the show "in canon" with this fiction.  It diverges when the family is gathered and celebrating at Kara's apartment in the last episode of that season.The tags will be updated as additional characters appear or are mentioned.  Some characters who were introduced in later seasons will appear; some will not.  If a tagged character is not mentioned or does not appear in the text posted, they will appear in a soon to be released chapter.The schedule for updates is not firm, but it's my intention to post two to three chapters each week.  Mulitple "seasons" are planned and loosely outlined.  Chapters intended for later seasons are written and ready for posting, but I prefer to post the chapters in order.Characters from multiple corners of DC IP are set up to appear, along with what I hope will be some pleasant surprises.  Where can one be self indulgent if not in fan fiction?ALSO, if some events depicted appear to be in direct contradiction to Season 1 events, please leave a comment so that I can double check.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers/James "Jimmy" Olsen, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Supergirl** **–** **Kara Danvers**

She was already in the air when she heard the crash.

It sounded like two trucks had collided and she flew in the direction of the sound. Taking a look she saw that a tow truck had collided with the left side of an armored car. The armored car had been knocked off the street and was laying on it's right side. But this wasn't an accident.

She watched as two men wearing baggy black jumpsuits and hockey masks emerged from the tow truck. The two men carried Mac-10 sub-machine guns. They pulled two disoriented security guards from the cab of the armored car; the driver and his partner. One of the men told the security guards to lay face down on the ground and covered them with his gun. Two other more men wearing the same jumpsuit, hockey mask combo hopped out of a van parked further up the street. They also carried sub-machine guns, but they went straight to the back of the armored car and appeared to be attaching an explosive to the rear door.

This robbery looked to be well planned. The men were moving quickly and confidently. Kara thought the van was going to be the getaway vehicle. _They blow the doors open, pull the other guards out, make two trips to the van carrying bags filled with money, and drive away with maybe one million dollars._

But Supergirl was about to end this before it began. The thieves looked organized. Kara hoped that meant smart and not needlessly vicious.

She landed ten feet away from the thieves with enough force to shake the ground beneath them. Counting on an intimidation factor to help her out, she said, “There's better ways to make bank withdrawals.”

One of the men shouted in a deep voice that was a bit obscured by the hockey mask, “Sorry Supergirl. We won't be here much longer.” He opened a box and tossed a small shard of green rock that was in it at her feet.

Kara looked down at it. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn it was kryptonite. Not the raw rocky type, but the smooth cut type that the DEO kept around. It looked almost identical, but its glow was dimmer. It had no effect on her.

“I thought you were a smart crew, but this makes you look a little dumb.”

A few seconds passed and the shoulders of the man who threw the rock slumped. “We got robbed. It's over. Put the guns down.” He and two of the other three men gently placed their guns on the ground. The man who spoke took a moment to make sure the safety was on. But the fourth man, the one with his gun trained on the guards laying face down, didn't comply.

Kara could hear the heartbeats of the guards begin to beat more rapidly. She raised her open palm to the man holding the gun on them. “Calm down. There's no way to get away. No one needs to get hurt.” She began weighing if she would be able to move fast enough to snatch the gun from his hand before he pulled the trigger. It would be risky.

The leader of the crew spoke again. “Listen to her. You actually going to kill them?”

One of the other men spoke. “Don't do it. Everybody's got a family.”

Relenting, the last armed man stepped away from the two guards. To Kara's relief he finally placed his gun on the ground. The two guards scrambled to their feet and went to the cab of the armored truck. Kara listened as they summoned the police.

“So who robbed you?” Kara asked the leader.

“The guy who sold me that rock. I paid a lot of money to set this up. The guns, the gear, the 'kryptonite'.”

Kara took the box the rock was in from the leader. She picked up the slightly green glowing rock. It tingled her fingers, but seemed otherwise completely harmless. Kara put the rock in the box and tucked it into her skirt pocket.

Shortly afterward, the National City police arrived. The now unmasked crew was cuffed and led away. The leader turned his head toward Kara as he was escorted off. He was ugly; unshaven with two large pus filled bumps on his face. One above his left eyebrow and the other on the tip of his nose. “Thanks for not hurting us Supergirl,” he said before he was placed in the back of a squad car.

_Polite at least,_ Kara thought.

The officers on scene asked Kara a few questions, but the information she provided wasn't really necessary. The suspects were on the scene armed and the guards would be excellent witnesses. The tow truck they used to hit the armored car was stolen. The ranking officer on scene thought it was pretty much a slam dunk.

Another officer walked over to them as they spoke. “We found some device on the tow truck. It looks like it's turned on. Could you take a look?”

Kara and the ranking officer went to the truck. To Kara's eye it was, without a doubt, an object foreign to the vehicle. A piece of advanced technology that seemed to be activated but had not been properly maintained. Considering the demeanor of the criminals, she doubted it was booby trapped so she took a look with her x-ray vision. There was no explosive. She asked the ranking officer to bring the group's leader over.

Kara gestured toward the device. “What's this?”

“It's not dangerous. It was supposed to keep you from hearing us.”

“Ripped off again?”

He looked away and remained silent.

“Where did you get it?” the ranking officer asked.

“Gotta request a lawyer now. Sorry.”

Kara wasn't sure if she should be concerned that there may be someone creating technology to counteract her powers. On the one hand, what these men had didn't work. Maybe it was a con job. On the other hand, their leader seemed organized and reasonable. He knew that he would need such a device to pull off such a bold theft. He knew he needed a backup plan in case she showed up anyway. Kara thought he was probably good at scrutinizing people.

But since he had asked for a lawyer, Kara didn't think any additional information would be forthcoming tonight. So she decided to head back to her apartment, where James was waiting.

She took to the air and was struck by how hungry she was. She was practically starving and thought back to the last time she had eaten. It was the previous morning; more than twenty four hours ago.

The night previous to that was when she, her friends, and her adopted family had celebrated their victory over Non and Indigo's Myriad mind control scheme and resolved to locate Jeremiah. The night that she and James finally broke the seal on their simmering attraction. She remembered the feel of his hands on her breasts and his fingertips on her nipples as they made love for the second time that night in her shower. Now her skin tingled when she recalled that they couldn't even speak. They simply groaned and gasped in ecstasy as she received him from behind.

Their lovemaking had continued into the early morning. She had awoken early to go into the office and deal with finding Cat Grant a new assistant. On the way, she had stopped at her favorite cafe and had three sticky buns, a glass of milk, and a glass of orange juice.

The waitress had looked at her and after a pause said, “somebody had a very nice night.”

Kara had shoved a big piece of sweetness in her mouth and nodded.”Mmmm.”

They both then laughed at the waitress' recognition of a woman who recently had multiple orgasms.

She had gone to her office and made the phone call to hire a woman from New York as Cat's new assistant. Her name was Eve Teschmacher. She then started spending some time trying to decide how she could be of best use to CatCo, as Cat had instructed her when she gave her the office. The process was complicated by the company website having CatCo's organizational chart blocked. But before she could think about it any further, James had appeared in her doorway.

“So this is where Cat's letting you plan out your future.”

She had taken a moment to look at how his taylered brown dress shirt fit just right on his chest, his torso, his arms. Then whatever she had been thinking about was replaced with a new plan.

“Come in and lock the door.”

They made love again in her office and then she had flown him back to her place. They were in bed for the rest of the day thinking only of each other's pleasure.

The following morning, this morning, James woke up from a nightmare. He couldn't remember it, but she enjoyed taking the time to sooth him all the same. They laid in her bed together into the afternoon. The only thing crossing her mind was the sound of his heartbeat as she laid her head on his chest.

She entered her apartment by window and saw James standing in the kitchen wearing a grey Adidas sweatsuit.

“I cooked us some pizza.”

“Awesome. I am. So. Hungry.” She walked over behind James as he pulled the pizza from the oven and took a look at it. _But not for this._ It was on flatbread. She could smell the low-fat cheese stingily scattered across it. A very thin layer of some sort of nontraditional pizza sauce was hidden under shredded pieces of baked ham. The majority of the toppings were vegetables; baby spinach and broccoli. Last, there were small, diced pieces of apple on it.

The pizza for someone who was trying to maintain six percent body fat was not the pizza Supergirl deserved. She looked at James. _Pizza is supposed to have at least five meats, extra cheese, thick cheesy crust, and a generous helping of tomato sauce._

But, at her level of hunger, food was food, so she started eating. Kara did decide that there would be revenge. One day soon James was going to be eating a sticky bun and drinking a large glass of whole milk; not that non-fat stuff. _Broccoli on a pizza?_

James set aside two slices on a separate plate and turned to the refrigerator. “You want a salad?”

_More vegetables?_ “No thank you.” Kara moved on to her third slice and eyed the seven remaining. “Are you going to eat any more of this later?”

“Yeah, I'll have a slice later.”

Kara shifted a slice to a vacant area of the baking pan, finished the slice in her hand, and moved to her fourth. She slowed the pace of her eating when James sat on the opposite side of the island in her kitchen. In addition to his two slices of pizza, he had a salad topped with grape tomatoes and a sliced orange.

“Good?”

_Um, sort of?_ “Thank you so much for cooking this. I was starving.” She giggled, wondering why she was still so giddy in his presence. She thought it would lessen after getting naked with him a few times. At this point it had been more than a few times and nothing had changed. She was now on her fifth slice.

“You have some strange eating habits. You can't forget to eat while you go about your day.”

Kara took a large bite of the slice in her hand and smiled at James across the island. “We haven't been eating much lately.” She noticed his slight blush as he returned her smile.

“Is that why you're eating so fast?”

The thought occurred to her that she may not need to eat as much as James, or any human. She recalled conversations at the dinner table with Alex, Eliza, and Jeremiah speculating on it. Although at the Danvers house there were never any skipped meals so there was no testing of the theory. And she did get hungry. She slowed her eating pace in an attempt to try to finish when James did.

She thought about telling him about the crime she broke up tonight, but decided that it could wait. As she gazed into his eyes the familiar tingle on her skin grew more insistent. Now knowing how good they felt together she silently wished the feeling would never end.

Kara ended up finishing the remainder of the pizza just before James finished his food. He laughed at her appetite while she covered the slice she set aside for him in cling wrap.

“Anybody ever tell you that you're greedy?”

“Alex, Eliza, Jeremiah. When I became part of the family it was brought up at dinner a lot. After a few days they just started making extra food.” She turned and started moving toward him. “What were family dinners like at the Olsen house?”

“Family,” James said, staring blankly ahead in concentration, “dinner.”

_Intense._ Kara moved behind him where he sat. The question must have dredged up some memory. But that wasn't really what Kara was interested in at this moment. He sat frozen until Kara's fingertips softly glided over his sweatshirt covered shoulders. She wondered if her senses allowed her to discover how and where he liked to be touched quicker than other women. She thought so. She hoped so.

She moved her hands down to the bottom of the shirt and reached under it to his skin. So subtly, he shivered and inhaled. _You don't want me to know how much you like this._ She wanted to whisper in his ear, _but you can't hide it._

She remembered the day she first met James. He was in his office crouched down over a box unpacking. When he had turned and stood, the combination of his height, musculature, rich brown flawless skin tone, and smile immediately captured her. She felt a combination of things she had never felt before in anyone's presence. She had felt petite, giggly, and nervous. There had been goose bumps she felt she needed to hide. She felt something she could only describe to herself as _feminine;_ like they would fit together nicely. Now she had learned it was true, the fit was very nice.

She lifted his sweatshirt upward and off of his body. After tossing the clothing item across the room, she bent down and found the back of his neck with her lips. That produced a reaction from him that no one would have missed.

When he rose from the stool, she impatiently turned him toward her. They embraced and kissed hungrily. She floated upward enough so they could kiss without craning their necks. Their embrace deepened when she wrapped her legs around him. The feel of her chest emblem, her family crest, pressing against him reminded her that this would be the first time they began their lovemaking while she was in “uniform”.

She wondered if he wanted her to keep it on. In her bedroom, he made his wishes known by slowly stripping it off of her. The feel of his fingertips as he deftly unzipped and unbuttoned her increased her anticipation. They laughed as he swung her cape in the air above their heads. When he slowly slipped his hands under her panties to squeeze her backside, Kara finally lost patience.

She pushed him onto the bed and quickly skinned his sweatpants off of him. While he prepared himself she lowered her stockings and panties. After stepping out of them she straddled him on the bed and took him inside.

Kara rode him purposefully. Her ardor was such that she knew she would achieve her goal easily. He grabbed her waist and a moment later the bliss Kara was seeking arrived, causing her to cry out. He began to thrust upward intensifying her orgasm and causing her to shout out with each stroke. When the wave of pleasure eased she grabbed James’ wrists, removing his grip from her waist, pushing his hands on each side of his head, and holding them there.

Face to face, Kara exhaled in relief and paused their movement. With him still inside of her she gazed into his eyes; her look letting him know she was in control. She began to move again, slowly, looking for a certain rhythm. When she found it, he made a now familiar sound of delight. She went faster and smiled, knowing that they would soon tumble into ecstasy together. She moved faster still and took pleasure in the sound of their bodies slapping together as she rode and grinded on his solid length.

Suddenly Kara's movements stopped and her body shivered as her next orgasm swept through her. James' was triggered as well and he cried out his love for her. She moved her hand to the back of his neck where she knew he liked the feel of her fingertips.

She forced her hips downward. “Louder,” Kara said.

Kara felt James' body shake with pleasure as he now shouted out his love for her.

A feeling of pride and dominance joined the orgasmic afterglow still stirring within her. _Yes! That's right! I hope the neighbors hear you! Tell me how I make you feel! Tell me what it feels like in_ my _bed! Tell_ me _you_ love _me!_ She rose and forced her hips downward repeatedly, wanting a complete submission. “Say it! Tell me! Again!” Kara coaxed.

He did. James groaned and shivered and professed his love even louder. His mouth hung open as Kara grinned and took what she wanted through their lovemaking.

Kara wrapped her arms around James' neck and held him as he continued to shake. She couldn't imagine anything she would ever do feeling this good and kept grinding against him until he was spent. As they laid together, her remaining on top of him, she whispered her love for him into his ear. Then she gave him a series of quick kisses on his lips, bobbing her head like a woodpecker, until they started laughing.

Later, they lay naked together. Kara's had her head on James' chest and smiled at the feel of his fingertips as his right hand glided up and down her back gently. She lifted her head to look at him. He looked beautiful with his left hand behind his head, resting on a collection of her small pillows.

He lifted his head slightly. “When did you tell Clark you were going to do this?”

Kara looked down to where her chest laid against his torso. “This?” _How would that conversation go? 'Hey Kal? Guess what I'm going to do to your pal tonight? Yep, as_ many times _as_ I _want.'_

James laughed. “No, not _this_.” He jerked his head toward a chair where her cape was draped. “I meant that.”

She looked over and then turned back to him. “Oh.” They laughed together. “I didn't. I didn't know I was going to do it. I had to.”

Kara thought back to the night she saved the plane her sister Alex was on. She hadn't used many of her powers in so long that she hadn't been sure she was going to be able to fly correctly. She knew she could, but lifting off, turning, speed, carrying objects were all more complicated than it looked. Once it was a habit it became more instinctual, but at that moment she wasn't sure she would be able to save Alex. For the first time, she wondered if she would have tried to save the plane if Alex wasn't on it. At this moment, her first thought was that of course she would. But thinking back, she wasn't sure. It was so ingrained into her to keep herself hidden that she had to admit to herself that she wasn't sure.

“You couldn't let the plane go down.”

At the meeting in Cat's office the following morning, Kara remembered that James walked in, stood by her, and said, “She's a hero. Saving people is what they're born to do. She'll be back.” And then he looked at her. _Will this change how he sees me?_

“I couldn't. Alex was on the plane.” Kara watched his face as he laid thinking.

“You weren't planning on coming out. That's why you were in civvies and your outfit kept changing.”

Kara looked back at the cape laying on the chair. It had been the baby blanket that her cousin was wrapped in when they both were rocketed away from Krypton. James had given it to her on top of the CatCo building after she had asked him to lunch.

“How long had you been holding onto Kal's blanket?”

“He was in my office with it the day I gave it to you. He asked how I was doing and we talked about you. Then he rushed off to deliver some medical supplies.”

“How did he know I was going to do this? What exactly did he say when he told you that?”

“He never said that exactly. It's just obvious that's what he was thinking.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well. Let me...”

He shifted position and Kara shifted with him, moving to his right. Now they laid together facing each other, the sheet covering them just below their chests. James placed his left hand on her hip and Kara laced their fingers together.

James continued, “I needed change. One day Metropolis just became,” he looked at her emotionless. “I had to leave. Expand my horizons. I looked for the right position. I had five job offers. Clark kept saying 'National City'. The only thing I knew about National City was that Cat set up shop here and there weren't any LexCorp offices.”

Kara watched as the warmth she knew returned to his face.

“Clark didn't say why. He just kept suggesting. A few times he was pretty insistent. Then he asked me to do it as a favor for him. He said it would be good for me. That it was the right place.”

Kara was glad Kal did that. She scooted closer to him. _This_ is _the right place for you._

“When you came into my office that day and I turned around and saw who you were, I figured out what it was all about. But it was weird that you didn't realize that I knew who you were.”

“James, I was just,” she paused for a moment then continued, “there were issues of 'who knew, who didn't know, who could know, who couldn't know' and I didn't know what to say about it.”

He lifted their intertwined hands to his chest. “That night you saved the plane and I figured out that he knew you were going to eventually do this. And he wanted me here to help you out.”

_There's no way Kal could have known that. But it doesn't matter. You're here._ “You have helped me. Thank you.”

“It's you, more than anything else. Lots of people have power. Only a few are heroes. And only one hero is like you.” He kissed the knuckles of her fingers.

Kara's skin tingled at the touch of James' lips. She decided that they would make love again; now. Pulling him to her, she lightly caressed and kissed his body. In the past few days, she had committed all of his erogenous zones to her memory and now made use of them. Quickly, he surrendered to her desire and kissed her. First her mouth. Kara held the back of his head as their tongues danced. Then his mouth moved to her neck and once again, her skin tingled at this contact.

She heard his heartbeat quicken as he located another condom. Moments later he put her on her back in the center of the bed. Kara spread her legs invitingly. She intended to make this a fierce coupling.

Kara gasped as James sank himself deep inside her. Every time James had entered her was a unique pleasure. He loved her eagerly and energetically. Kara's arousal was so great that he easily stoked her fires. Looking into his eyes, she saw that he was fully seduced; wanting only to pleasure her. She erupted. The flames of orgasm enveloped her several times. She shouted at the arrival of each explosion and watched James smile down at her.

When James slowed to catch his breath, Kara decided it was time to put him on his back again. She pulled him down to her, wrapping her arms around his back. She clutched his thighs with her legs. Then she flipped him, claiming the dominant position. Kara made it clear who was once again in charge by pushing herself down his length. She saw James press his lips together and flex his jaw in resistance. But there was no mistaking the pleasure that washed over his face in response to her movement.

Kara pushed James' arms above his head and then leaned down, positioning her mouth near his right ear. She intended to claim every last bit of the passion remaining in him tonight. She wanted to talk to him while she did it.

Kara began by moving slowly. As she built speed she started whispering into his ear. She told him how good he made her feel. She repeated how much she loved him. James' response was only gasps and groans. She loved that he was already too tired to respond with words. As Kara built speed, James' groans of pleasure only grew louder. _I'm going to take all of you! I'm going to wear you out!_

She kept up this pace of lovemaking and gave him a wet kiss on his cheek. He shivered in response. Kara smiled; mindful of how much pleasure she was giving him, of how good this felt to both of them. She whispered in his ear again, telling him that this is the place for him. "Underneath my body. Just like this James."

Kara pushed herself hard down his length. "Like this." James groaned and shivered in response.

She pushed down hard again and repeated, "Like this." Again James uttered the same wordless response and shivered with delight.

She slowed her pace, wanting to extend this pleasure to it's very limit. The last few days with James had been the most amazing she had ever experienced. Their passion and closeness had deepened and grew from the first spark. Right now, she wanted to give him so much pleasure that he would pass out when she was done. Unexpectedly, another orgasm built within her and burst free. She called out James' name and told him how it felt. Kara grabbed James by the chin with her right hand and gave him a long, sloppy kiss.

Now, Kara decided it was time to finish James off. She moved faster, grunting into his ear with each flex of her hips. James groaned loudly with each of her movements. Somehow he got his hands free and grasped her waist. Kara grabbed him by the wrists and reasserted her dominance, pushing his arms back where she wanted them and holding on. She flexed her hips more forcefully. James gasped. His torso and groin began to wiggle underneath her outside of his control. Kara loved the response and squirming of his body and squeezed her thighs against him to keep him still. _Oh yes! I've got you!_ She started bouncing up and down his length, kept grunting into his ear, and then told him to lay there and take what she was giving him.

“Take it,” Kara said. James groaned helplessly as she continued to bounce on him. “Take it James.” She loved the sound of the bed squeaking underneath them. “Yes baby yes.” Kara relished every second of this lovemaking. She bounced. She grunted. She moaned. She cried out, “Take this, take it, take it.”

Finally, what Kara knew was going to be the last orgasm he had within him tonight arrived. She greedily snatched it out of his body with hers.

Kara pressed her body on him, chest to chest, and held his arms down on the mattress by his wrists. Pinned by Kara's strength, James writhed and shook and cried out underneath her. _Let it out James! Let it out!_ Again and again, he groaned out as loudly as he had at any point in the evening. His muscles twitched and his body involuntarily bucked. She pressed down on him harder. “Yes James. Show me how good it feels," she whispered, "Show me James.” Each shift and spasm of his body fed Kara's feeling of triumph. Each cry and shout of pleasure from his mouth filled Kara's heart with pride. Kara held herself tightly against him, grinned with joy at the sounds he made, and drank in the feel of his shivering body as James surrendered all that he had; both underneath her and inside of her.

With a last gasp, his movements ceased and he went silent. Kara climbed off and surveyed him. James was motionless and his eyes were slightly rolled back. A moment later he was asleep. Kara snuggled up to the left side of his body and pulled the sheet over them. She caressed his chest and drifted off to sleep beside him.

She rose from bed early in the morning and forced herself to gather a complete outfit for the day before going into the bathroom. After showering and applying a perfume with a soft, creamy, subtle scent, she fully dressed; a plaid skirt with its pattern colored black, white, grey, and pinstripe red and a white shirt. She pulled her hair back in her standard ponytail and exited the bathroom.

Reaching into a concealed portion of her closet, she grabbed a fresh costume. Taking it and the cape from the chair she folded them and put them in a hidden pocket of her bag. She put the box from last night in her sock drawer and thought about ways to better conceal her costume under her clothes. Making a trip to Kal's fortress to look at some options got put on her mental priority list.

There was plenty of time for James to use the bathroom before work. Now that she was fully dressed she thought it would be easier to resist falling back into bed with him, so she sat on the side of the bed and tried to gently wake him.

He wouldn't quite wake up and touching him was tempting her to get back in the sheets. While looking at him, Kara couldn't help but admit a certain satisfaction to herself. Her body still felt languid from the previous evening. James looked handsome tangled in her sheets. Her lovemaking had left him overwhelmed with pleasure, exhausted, and drained. He slumbered happily and deeply in her bed; exactly how she wanted him.

Kara left him there to recover, reasoning that he didn't need to rush in to work. She contented herself with the question of how much rest he would need before she could extract all of his love again. _Tonight,_ she thought.

Standing in her kitchen she poured herself a glass of orange juice and attempted to plan out her day. She needed to go into the office and help Eve get situated. She wanted to introduce her to Cat at least by phone, but Cat was out of town and for some reason Kara had been unable to contact her. She would try to get Eve up to speed on all of Cat's habits and idiosyncrasies. If Cat didn't show, she'd take Eve to an early lunch and try to get to know her.

She needed to check in with Alex. She felt some shame when she realized that she hadn't spoken with her since their celebration. After she had found out that Alex was working for a covert government agency she discovered just how secretive, deceptive, and regimented she had been living. With the DEO being decommissioned, Alex wouldn't have to deal with that anymore. But it was bound to leave some sort of void.

Kara moved to a corner of the apartment so as to not wake James and called Alex. There was no answer and she left a voicemail. Kara decided to make it a point to check in on her today.

She also needed to see how J'onn was doing. He was cooperating with an investigation into the DEO's activities and history. But they were making him wear an ankle bracelet. J'onn wasn't the problem with the DEO. It was that the DEO existed in the first place and didn't have anyone's best interest in mind. In Kara's view, J'onn had done them a huge favor in doing the best he could to keep things above board.

Kara remembered the moment that J'onn had told her and Alex his daughters' names. He made it clear that, although his actual daughters couldn't be replaced, he looked at her and Alex as surrogate daughters. Her heart had leaped out at him and she had hugged him without thinking, trying to provide what comfort that she could.

_Such a loss is horrible. Losing so much family is horrible._ She pushed the thought out of her mind. It never led anywhere productive.

She heard James gasp and stir. When she went into the bedroom she found him sitting on the side of the bed with his head in his right hand. _Another nightmare?_ She sat beside him. “Are you OK?”

James' eyes were closed and he stroked his nose and lips with his hand. “I'm OK Kara.”

Kara wasn't sure what to make of this. She thought more sleep wouldn't be a bad idea. James seemed to have the same idea and laid back down. He seemed content again as he immediately went back to sleep.

Kara decided to check James' office for any pressing matters and check in on him throughout the day.


	2. J'onn J'onzz

**J'onn J'onzz**

As long as he wore the ankle bracelet, he was allowed freedom of movement.

So when he received the call from Mrs. Henshaw's doctor, he was able to begin what was going to be the last trip to her bedside without concern; only sorrow. It felt easier to make the flight in his Martian form, even if the cape seemed to be an unusually heavy drag on him. He landed in a secluded area not far from the hospice facility and switched his body into the human form he had deeply memorized. Briefly wondering how much longer it would be practical to maintain the facade of being Hank Henshaw, he walked with haste toward his destination.

An unavoidably somber mood permeated the facility. Nurses, nurse practitioners, and volunteers dutifully set about their work. Patients were assisted in being seated comfortably or moved about in wheelchairs. The lighting was bright, yet soft. J'onn signed in with Hank's name at the lobby desk and was greeted with a gentle, practiced smile from the attendant. The type of smile that was meant to project happiness and politeness; although, when J'onn touched the clipboard, he knew that wasn't always the case. But the personnel also carried a sense of purpose and duty that J'onn respected.

He walked toward the room where Mrs. Henshaw was waiting. The air smelled of bleach and the attempt to cover the scent with floral air freshener. Occasionally, as he walked, the smell of human waste could be encountered. But, a step or two later, the floral, bleachy smell returned, as if it were trying to fight for dominance in the environment.

Upon reaching the room, the doctor got directly to the point. “It won't be much longer. She's comfortable.” A volunteer and a reverend were in the room standing beside the bed. The doctor patted him gently on the shoulder and left the room. The other two followed the doctor out a moment later. Then, J'onn pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down.

The first time J'onn entered Hank Henshaw's DEO office he learned that it was going to be relatively easy to pull off this impersonation. He thought he would have to use his telepathy to pull memories from all of the agents Hank worked with to approximate Hank's personality. But once he was standing in Hank's office he knew that wouldn't be necessary. Many sentient beings left sensations, impressions of experiences, and even full blown memories on objects they kept in their possession. Depending on the person and the intensity of what they felt, J'onn could sometimes read these and learn about an event or a person.

Hank Henshaw's office had plenty of material to draw from. The intensity of Hank Henshaw's hate; his obsession with finding, capturing, studying, and killing non-humans filled his office like thick cigar smoke. He kept feverishly hand scribbled mission logs, weapons he enjoyed using, and trophies on his desk and on his shelves. He also kept a picture of his mother. From this J'onn learned that their falling out over Hank's behavior sometimes weighed heavily on him.

The first time J'onn met Hank Henshaw's mother was a year after he infiltrated the DEO. He had just gotten to the point where he had perfected his copy of Henshaw's body. Early on a Sunday morning, Ruth Henshaw had lost her balance and taken a tumble down a flight of stairs. He was called to the hospital and watched her sleep through the window of the room she had been taken too. Not sure if he should enter the room to check on her more closely, he simply waited. A doctor informed him that Ruth had a fractured leg, a fractured wrist, and a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

J'onn entered the room and, as he was doing now, sat at the side of her bed. Ruth opened her eyes and asked him if he still hunted aliens and why he hated them so much. J'onn knew this was a conversation Ruth had with her son on many occasions. J'onn wasn't sure how or even if he should answer, but he did. He thought about the reforms he instituted at the DEO. With it's labyrinthine structure and ties to the Department of Defense and Cadmus, reform was slow, but he was making progress. He thought about the promise he made to Jeremiah Danvers about his daughters. Then he said, “We don't do those things any more. I protect people.” J'onn remembered the way Ruth's face relaxed at that moment and how she slowly drifted to sleep.

J'onn made arrangements for assisted living for Hank's mother and, although he wasn't always successful, tried to visit her twice a month. He was told that his visits were when the effects of the Parkinson's seemed to be at their lowest. The more J'onn visited the more confused he was as to Hank's attitude; his mother only reminisced about happy times during his childhood and early teen years. J'onn remembered an angry man who pointed a rifle in his face wanting to kill him. Hank's mother talked about a drooling, fat baby that she adored.

Ruth Henshaw's condition slowly deteriorated and she made end of life preparations. J'onn made all of the necessary arrangements. Eventually, she required hospice care and moved into this facility. And here J'onn sat with her, as she neared the end. _No one should have to die alone,_ J'onn thought. _If her son's presence can provide her with some comfort, then her son will be here._

The only sounds that could be heard were the beeping of monitors and the hiss of a breathing apparatus. J'onn took Ruth's hand and it seemed to tighten around his. He eavesdropped into her thoughts and saw a woman at peace. Her last thought was a memory of watching her son, only eight years old, sitting and playing with a toy truck. And then she slipped away.

* * *

J'onn needed something to change his mood. Midvale was on the way back to National City, so he decided to pay Eliza Danvers a visit. He had some of the items that he wanted to give her and the others he could easily get depending on Mrs. Danvers' mood.

As he approached the Danvers' home, he saw Alex and Kara's mother tending to her garden. She wore a pair of blue overalls, a white shirt, and a large floppy, white straw sun hat. Her clothes were decorated in random places with patches of dirt. She looked up at him in the sky, seeming to have heard his approach. J'onn saw there was no one nearby and landed in the driveway.

Reflexively and out of habit, he shifted into his Hank Henshaw form. For a moment he thought about shifting into one of his Martian forms, but was surprised when Mrs. Danvers greeted him with a hug.

“J'onn! What brings you out here?”

Her more exuberant than expected greeting lifted his spirits. “I was on my way back from attending to”, he said, “some personal business and...”

“Oh, I got dirt all over you.”

It wasn't bad. In fact, J'onn felt happy about the distraction.

She continued, “come inside and tell me.” Leading him by the arm she guided him into the house and sat him at the kitchen table. While gathering some papers and a couple of magazines that were on the table she said, “Give me a few minutes to change clothes so I don't get dirt everywhere.” She then disappeared from the kitchen.

J'onn had inadvertently caught a glimpse at the items that she moved to clear a space for him. Some of them were fliers for clubs and empty nester groups. Sitting at the table he got a sense that she was spending a lot of time here alone and bored. He made a mental note to tell Alex and Kara to visit more often. There was a magazine that caught his eye. Upon closer examination it was a peer reviewed science journal; the main topic of which were theories on the nature of shapeshifting in metahumans and aliens.

J'onn remembered the night he met Eliza Danvers, when he and Alex were “on the run” and stopped in for food and supplies. After getting over the idea that he wasn't actually Hank Henshaw, she had started peppering him with questions about how his shapeshifting ability worked. _Still curious I see._

She returned wearing a pair of jeans and a blouse with a floral pattern. J'onn could smell the hand-soap she used.

“Let me get you something. I've got bottled water, some fruit punch, I've got some Chocolate Pecan pie.”

This was the famous “best in the galaxy” pie that Kara went on and on about. J'onn had to try that and he asked for water with it. While he couldn't attest to the galaxy spanning nature of the compliment, he thought the pie lived up to it's billing. He ate as she sat watching him, seemingly getting more and more eager to ask him a question.

She surprised him again with, “Why do you continue to take that form when you've been exposed and don't need to?”

There were several reasons. One of them was that he had been in the form so much over the years he had gotten used to it. Another was that he felt that he had formed some connection over years with Ruth Henshaw and to discard it would be to dismiss her presence in his life. It was odd, because he wasn't who she thought he was, but he felt that way all the same.

But J'onn wasn't ready to share that so he gave her another true reason. One that he thought would appeal to her scientific mind. “Mrs. Danvers, I can take any physical form on a superficial level. My familiarity with this one has grown over the years to the point that it is a perfect genetic copy of the original. It needed to be to defeat drug and blood testing that Henshaw had instituted at the DEO.”

She nodded in understanding.

“Also, I can 'lock in' this form in a way that allows me to remain in it without concentrating and while sleeping.”

“You need sleep?”

“Not as much as a human being, but yes I do need sleep on occasion Mrs. Danvers.”

“J'onn stop calling me Mrs. Danvers. You can call me Eliza.”

 _Eliza._ Until she made the explicit invitation, J'onn had been concerned that he may have been overstepping a boundary of some sort. But now that it was made he welcomed the friendship that was being offered.

“And,” J'onn continued, “Eliza, I'm not completely exposed as of yet. It's not general knowledge, even across what's left of the DEO, that I am not Hank Henshaw. I think there's a desire to get a full review of everything that has happened before deciding how to proceed.”

“If they aren't careful they'll expose the full extent of the DEO's covert activities.”

“Yes. That's my sense as well.” J'onn asked, “over the years were you able to deduce much about what the DEO had been doing?”

“Not really. I had two teenage girls to handle and they presented a unique challenge.”

 _Very true._ When he recruited Alex into the DEO to better keep an eye on her, and secondarily on Kara, Alex behaved much like any other ambitious employee. That was something that J'onn could deal with. When Kara “went active”, Alex became far more willful and non-compliant. The both of them together began to remind him so much of his own daughters that on several occasions he found it difficult to maintain the Hank Henshaw pretense. Discouraging and mocking Kara only seemed to encourage her determination, even if she had to walk away momentarily. Soon he would be the one who would try to make a point and then turn and walk away before he would be forced to accuse Alex of insubordination in front of other agents. Kara was highly bubbly, happy, plucky and even more annoying that her cousin; in the most adorable of ways.

“What I do know is that organizations that operate covertly, with little oversight, and by people with poor intentions, rarely stick to their _stated charter_ very closely or for very long.”

 _True again._ The DEO was structured in a ridiculously byzantine way. Even now he hadn't completely disentangled all of it's aspects. Frustratingly, a few of it's branches broke away shortly after he began his impersonation. He didn't think it was because they had detected him. He thought they were somehow set up to go underground if certain fail-safes activated that there was no way he could be aware of.

“That's part of why I came out here. I'm going to provide all of the details that I know about the DEO's activities. I've been assured that Cadmus isn't involved with this and there are officials in Homeland Security and the Department of Justice that want full disclosure and appreciate my cooperation.”

“Do you really trust that?”

“In this case yes.” J'onn felt he would cooperate regardless, but, when he was assured by a certain man from Gotham City that this would be kept above board, he felt more comfortable. Transparency _has to start somewhere._ “There needs to be some sort of law enforcement option to deal with metahumans, non-humans,” J'onn continued, “and the like. It just needs to be done the right way. With reassurance and oversight.”

“Alex thinks there are several captures that you made on your own and falsified the DEO records.”

“She thinks right. I couldn't always send agents after escapees from a maximum security prison built by a society thousands of years more advanced than Earth's.” J'onn waved his right hand toward the center of the table. “Even then they thought they had to stick them in a region of space with strange properties.” _Did Alex deduce it or did she find the files I put on the 'hidden' server?_

“I don't think you should do it.”

“I think it's the best way to find out where Jeremiah is. We know Cadmus has him somewhere. We know that they are connected to the Defense Department in some way. If I use goodwill, kick over the right rock, meet the right person, I might be able to get more information.”

Eliza sat silently, looking into an empty area of the room.

“Otherwise, I'd have to find a way to infiltrate another branch of the government to get information or force-ably extract it somehow. That would make me a hostile actor and put all of you under increased suspicion.”

Eliza's expression hadn't changed.

J'onn pulled out a DEO identification badge. “When Henshaw was in charge he set up observation stations in different places around the country. I altered their mandate. Now they are just miscellaneous storage stations doing “make work” research.”

Eliza took the badge out of J'onn's hand. It identified her as a DEO employee.

“I'm going to let the investigators know about this and I imagine they'll want to take a look at these places. All the information there is locked and secure, but I thought you might want to go through it. Maybe you want some of it. Maybe you don't want anyone else to have it. But for the time being you have full access to the facility.”

“Where is it?”

After giving Eliza the address, J'onn folded himself into her sub-compact Chevy. With Eliza behind the wheel, they made the drive into downtown Midvale. It was a slightly cramped fit with J'onn maintaining his current size, but he found a comfort in that sensation. A section of the road went through a heavily forested area. J'onn found himself distracted by the tall trees, grasses, bushes, and animals as they traveled.

“You'd think someone who could fly wouldn't be so happy to be cramped up in my little car.”

The statement didn't surprise J'onn. Human beings often dreamt of flight. But he also suspected that Eliza would appreciate her surroundings. That had to be one of the reasons that the Danvers' lived in this area.

“Mars never had this variety of plant and animal life. It's one of the most distinctive things about Earth.”

“It's beautiful out here. There are there nature preserves adjacent to Midvale.” Eliza continued, “And secluded. Private, or so we thought.”

“When the DEO found out you and Jeremiah had worked with Superman they were never going to allow you the privacy you wanted.”

“Why are they so paranoid about Superman. He's really a nice young man.”

J'onn briefly thought of James. “He's more strategic in his thinking than he lets on.”

“What do you mean? He's not cold or calculating.”

“It's not that. You're right, he's very nice.”

J'onn often compared himself to Superman and now thought of some of his qualities. J'onn could read minds, sometimes gain information from areas and objects, had lived on Earth for three hundred years, and had even lived a few “human lives”. But Superman still had an insight into the human psyche that J'onn sometimes suspected was greater than his own. J'onn found this frustrating.

J'onn also thought Superman could be doing more. Superman wielded an excruciatingly light touch geopolitically; often confining his actions to humanitarian aid. J'onn felt that all institutions needed to be dealt with, worked with, or confronted in some manner. Outside of keeping an eye on Alex and Kara, J'onn even entertained the notion that he could completely transform the DEO. Superman had warned him; and it turned out he was right again.

But being en-route to finding out how much of Eliza's personal and family life the DEO had rifled thorough, J'onn didn't want to unleash all of that on her as well. He wondered if it was petty. He wondered if it would make him appear jealous.

So he stuck with his sense of what he overheard in countless meetings with military and security officials. “They don't understand someone with that much power being that reluctant to use it and think he has ulterior motives. They see someone who projects himself as American but wont defend, as they see it, American interests.”

Eliza kept her eyes on the road as they drew closer to the main streets of Midvale.

J'onn continued, “They turned out to be right that a spacefaring civilization would more than likely have more than one survivor. And yes, they are very, very paranoid.”

They arrived at the observation station, which was an apartment above a very unassuming storefront. Inside there were two DEO agents both dressed in civilian clothes. One was eating a hot dog. The other was reviewing some paperwork. Their most threatening equipment were two expensive looking laptop computers. They both jumped to attention when J'onn entered. _They weren't expecting a visit from the Director._

“Sir, what can we do for you?” the agent who was reading said. The other agent stood frozen with his hot dog in his hand.

“I was in the area and we need to pick up some files from the back room. We'll be out of your way in a few moments.”

“What are you working on?” Eliza asked.

“I'm reviewing a study of what percentage of fish DNA could be extraterrestrial in origin.”

“Um, OK,” Eliza slowly turned her head toward J'onn.

They went into a back room that didn't seem to get a lot of attention. There was a very light layer of dust on several items. In a closet there were four boxes of files and a box with several hard drives inside.

“This is it,” J'onn said.

“Fish DNA?”

“This station was going to stay open regardless. This way it was staffed with people who wouldn't spy on you.”

They took the items and loaded up Eliza's car. J'onn informed the agents that they should be prepared to be re-assigned soon; which they seemed pleased to hear. J'onn thought they had made out pretty good. They were getting paid to keep someone from getting spied on and they were stationed in a quiet, ocean-side town. They, like most of the DEO's employees he found, were people who wanted to be of service and found themselves caught up in a paranoid agenda. He thanked them for their service and wished them well in whatever their new assignment might be.

When he and Eliza returned to the Danvers' house, he helped her get the items inside. Eliza began to study the information and became engrossed with it. J'onn, curious but not wanting to pry, decided it was time to make his exit. He tried to sneak away without disturbing her, but Eliza got up from her chair and walked him to the door.

“J'onn, you're welcome to come by anytime,” she said with a smile. “And thank you.”

“Once Jeremiah is found, I'm going to take you up on that offer.” There was something about Midvale that J'onn found very comforting.

They walked outside and J'onn took to the air. He saw Eliza continue to watch him until he flew into a cloud.


	3. Alex Danvers

**Alex Danvers**

This was the first time in years that Alex had woken up and not known how she was going to spend her day.

Usually, she would awake at this time, prepare a quick breakfast, get to the DEO facility early enough to get in a workout, shower, and report for duty. But now there was no duty to report for. The DEO was being decommissioned. According to what she heard it was going to be absorbed into the Defense Department. Sam Lane was going to be involved with that and Alex had no desire to be in that mix.

So she stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, which stretched to fifteen. She wanted to workout, but her apartment building had no facilities. _I don't even have a gym membership._ She considered going to the DEO facility anyway. J'onn would be there. He was helping out with the decommission. The military officers were wary of J'onn, especially since he was exposed impersonating a government employee. But the remaining DEO personnel were still friendly to him. They were happy to help out and J'onn was fully cooperative with what was going on. So far there were no problems. But Alex didn't feel comfortable going out there.

She opted for a morning run. After quickly making a ham and egg breakfast, she put on a crossback sports bra, slim fit black joggers, a muscle tank with a random graphic design, a matching cap, black sunglasses, and a pair of cross trainers. Then she put on her PowerBeats earbuds, turned on a Rock playlist from Spotify on her phone and hit the door.

She thought she might try to challenge her best five mile run time, but she hadn't expected as many pedestrians as there were. The sidewalk wasn't crowded, but the pedestrians and her unfamiliarity with the area combined to slow her down. Still she was able to work up a nice sweat and that felt good.

The government officials that were decommissioning the DEO seemed not to know or not to care if she knew about J'onn's impersonation. They had given her the opportunity to transfer into several possible positions. It seemed that they may have wanted to steer her into Homeland Security, hinting that a Secret Service opportunity was available if she wanted it. But that would take her out of National City and she wanted to be close to her sister Kara and relatively near her mother. If she stayed in the city, she was going to need a job; a good paying one.

When she ended the run, she placed her hands on her hips and took deep breaths to cool down. A morning breeze flowed over her skin providing a delightful sensation across her arms and where her muscle tank clung to her sweaty torso Taking a look around she noticed she was standing in front of a city park. _Nice._ It had a walking trail that appeared inviting and the park was well maintained.

It occurred to her that she had never truly gotten a look around National City. She wasn't even aware of this park that was relatively close to her apartment. She decided that today she would check out a couple of National City landmarks and try to enjoy herself. She needed to decide what she was going to do about work soon, but it wasn't a heated rush. She could take a day.

She returned to her apartment and stripped out of her clothes. In the shower, after she scrubbed herself down, she stood under the large, round head for an extended period of time. She took the time to feel the water flow across her body; how the streams shifted as they ran across her skin. She flexed her toes softly against the floor of the shower. Taking a long breath she thought, _something feels different._ It was hard to put a finger on it, except that she felt present in her body in a way she hadn't in a long time; maybe ever.

After she dried herself, she sat on the toilet lid and applied an unscented moisturizer on her neutral toned, light skin. Her unscented antiperspirant sat next to the extra bottle of the scent she usually applied a light amount of when she was at the DEO. She wanted something different today. She searched in a drawer and found what she was looking for; a 'gender neutral' Calvin Klein fragrance she bought a few months back. She liked it at the store but hadn't used it yet. Today she opened the bottle and sprayed an amount that was greater than what she would normally apply. She enjoyed the citrus blend scent as it hung in the air. _Too much?_ She paused to consider. _Nope, just right._

She dressed in a standard matching set of Fruit of the Loom underwear, a pair of forest green chinos, and, feeling a desire to show off her arms, a black, collared, button-up, almost sleeveless shirt. She applied some peach lip gloss, put on ankle socks, and her most comfortable sneakers.

She wanted to spend the rest of the morning down at the oceanfront. _Maybe Kara will meet me for lunch._ Alex called her sister to find out. One ring after she usually would, Kara answered. Her sister spoke to her in a high pitched, dancing toned voice; as if she'd been laughing before she called. Before she could ask her question, she heard a male voice in the background. He was trying, but not succeeding, to quietly ask if everything was ok. It sounded like Kara and James were still playing a bit of hooky from work.

Alex let Kara know that she was going to spend some time at the oceanfront today, but didn't invite her to lunch. Instead she told Kara she would call her later. Kara started giggling and told her bye, but the line didn't disconnect. Alex heard what sounded like the both of them laughing and moving around on a bed as if they were tickling each other. There was a pause and then what sounded like hungry kissing. Alex hung up.

So Alex called an Uber and spent the rest of the morning at the National City oceanfront shops. She loitered at a bookstore and an outdoor newsstand. The front page of today's Tribune noted that the city had just been awarded a National Women's Soccer League team. The team would play their first season at the soccer field of National City University while it's own eighteen thousand seat custom stadium was being built. Alex looked at artist renderings of the stadium as she leaned against a railing with the ocean to her back.

After reading what she wanted to from it, she folded the newspaper as neatly as possible and tucked it into the left side of the back of her pants. She decided she would leave it wherever she chose to have lunch and started thinking about where she might grab a bite. Two ladies walking in her direction caught her attention.

They looked like a couple to Alex as they were walking, not quite holding hands, but with the fingers of one's left hand and the other's right hand playfully intertwined. Alex thought they were perhaps three to four years older than she was. One was asian, her dark hair cut straight and slightly shorter than Alex's own. The other was a strawberry, blond caucasian, with thick curls that lay long down her back. They wore matching plum colored lipstick. Alex took a strong look at their breasts, concealed but bouncing under their shirts as they walked. She decided, without truly knowing how, that they probably wore the same size bra. Thinking she was leering, Alex diverted her eyes; but couldn't help imagining the both of them topless in their bathroom trading bras back and forth.

Alex looked back up to see the one who was closer, the asian girl, looking at her. She had a light grin on her face and turned to whisper in her girlfriend's ear as they walked by. The two ladies slowed their walk as the blond whispered back. Now Alex couldn't stop looking. The blond's hair extended down her back almost to her backside. The asian's backside was the larger of the two; _juicy,_ Alex decided.

The blonde looked directly into Alex's eyes as she continued to whisper to her girlfriend. The dark haired lady then put some extra torque into her backside as she walked. The blonde smacked the butt as it waived around both in front of Alex's eyes and in her imagination. The lady jumped in faux pain as they kept walking. The blond winked at Alex and nodded with a confidence that Alex found strange. The two then resumed their normal walking speed. Alex could no longer see their faces but thought they would be smiling.

Alex felt warmer in the wake of this interaction. Her skin tingled in a way she found enticing. The confidence of the blond somehow felt alien to her, but, even with that, somehow the two ladies had made her day. To Alex they were magnificent.

Alex's phone rang. She didn't recognize the number but still answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Alex Danvers.”

“Yes, who is this?”

“Miss Danvers, I'm with the National City Mayor's office.”

Alex's face contorted, “Yes, what can I do for you?”

“Mayor Henderson has been wanting to meet with you and some time has opened up in his schedule today. Are you free for lunch? Or anytime this afternoon?”

_Free lunch at the Mayor's office? Why not?_ “Yes, I am. I'd love to meet the Mayor. I'm available now.” _Free lunch? Catered?_

“I'll arrange a car for you.”

Alex provided her location and, a short while later, a four door, black, Cadillac ATS arrived. To Alex's surprise, the driver even stepped out and opened the rear door for her. The interior was soft, made with a plush, comfortable leather. Alex relaxed into it and found the cushioning soothing to her muscles. There was a refrigerated middle compartment that held sixteen ounce bottles of water, apple juice, and grape juice. The driver encouraged her to help herself, so she did.

Midday National City traffic was awful, but Alex was able to manage it within the air conditioned confines of the car. Finally, they pulled into a parking garage and parked at a space where a woman stood waiting. She was about five feet, six inches tall; an inch shorter than Alex. Her hair was chestnut blond with strands of grey mixed in and she wore unflattering business attire. Alex thought she might have been in her early fifties.

Extending her hand, she introduced herself as the assistant to the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Maria Joyce. Alex gave her hand a firm shake and was led inside of the administration building.

“Thank you for joining us Miss Danvers. You must be hungry by now. What would you like?”

_Anything? They seem to be rolling out the 'red carpet'._ Alex decided to test for a reaction. “How about a ham sandwich on multigrain wheat, two sandwich sliced pickles, tomato, sharp cheddar, and a peeled and sliced orange?”

Maria scribbled the order into her legal pad. “Everyone else is having sandwiches too. Would you like this order with theirs? The Mayor has a favorite sandwich shop.”

“Yes, that would be great.” _Everyone?_

They wound their way through several hallways lit brightly. Many workers crossed their paths. Most looked to be just out of college; perhaps interns of some sort. She noticed there weren't many windows in the building. Every office was closed off, a striking difference from all of the open space at the DEO base.

They entered a conference room that had a large oval table and space to seat over twenty, but there were only three people in the room. This room was well lit, with a large window that spanned one side and showcased a view of an open courtyard. The three people, all men, rose from where they were seated to greet her. First was the Mayor Fred Henderson. He was tall with brown and grey hair; smiling a politician's smile to show off all of his perfectly straight, white teeth. Alex knew he was at least in his mid fifties and looked to have a mature vigor. The Mayor introduced his Chief of Staff, Arnold Faucett. Arnold's hair was cut short and silver-yellow blonde. Also over six feet tall, he had an athletic build. Alex thought that whatever time he wasn't spending here was spent working out. Arnold gave her a firm handshake and Alex sensed he may have found her attractive; she didn't reciprocate the feeling. Lastly, the Mayor introduced the Chief of Police, Donald Nisliet. He was the shortest of the three, just topping six feet. His dark hair had just begun to recede and, although he was well kept, Alex thought he could use a hair cut. He was skinny with dark brown eyes. His nose crinkled from time to time, as if there was a nose hair tickling him.

The sandwiches arrived and as they ate the four of them got to know each other better. It occurred to Alex that she was currently in a position that many women she had known would envy. She sat among three of the city's most powerful men. All of them were trying their best to be as charming as possible. They clearly had a proposition for her; and one of them was interested in slightly more than that. But other than her curiosity at what they summoned her here for, she had no feeling about it. The sight of the two ladies at the oceanfront lingered in the back of her mind.

Briefly she thought of the night that Kara saved her plane. She was so afraid that Kara had come out and exposed herself for scrutiny. Not just for scrutiny from the DEO but from the world. But Kara had made it work spectacularly and she still hadn't showcased all of her intelligence or really learned to fight. Alex remembered the joyful laughter she heard over the phone this morning and wondered if somehow she was fearful, not for Kara, but for herself.

After they finished their sandwiches, the Mayor launched into the expected sell job.

“Miss Danvers, we need to add a division to National City's police department. Based on a recommendation I received, I thought you might have an important perspective that could be made use of.”

Alex sat silently, nodded gently, and waited.

“I'll let Chief Nisliet provide more details.”

The room darkened and a projection screen slowly lowered from the ceiling at the end of the room. The idea the three of them were trying to present was that they wanted to add a unit of officers who could respond to Metahuman and Alien crimes. The long, politely shown presentation was really an assurance that the current organization of the National City Police Department wouldn't be any sort of hindrance to this unit. Alex tuned out of all of the slides and charts about a third of the way through. She already knew of a way to deal with concerns about interference.

The light returned to the room when the show ended. The gentlemen asked her what her thoughts were and waited, smiling, for her response.

“Who recommended me?”

“Maxwell Lord,” the Mayor responded.

Alex felt her eyes widen and her head tilt back involuntarily. _Smart on his part at least. “_ For something like this, you'll need equipment that is capable of disabling and detaining MetaSubs of the power level that will be encountered but still safe to use in the presence of the public.” High grade military weapons would endanger civilians with their lethality. Alex also remembered facing off with Jemm inside of the DEO facility. She had pumped him full of a wide variety of conventional lead with hardly any effect.

“MetaSubs?” the Chief of Staff asked.

“Metahuman suspects.”

From an until now unseen briefcase, the Police Chief pulled a folder. “Lord has agreed to provide this stuff.” The folder was handed to Alex.

She took a look at the schematics for the equipment that Lord Technologies was offering. Although some of it had yet to be tested, it looked as if it would fit the bill. The containment cells looked identical to what the DEO had used. _Lord would know, having spent some time in one of them._

“Why now?”

The Mayor answered, “We want to get ahead of the curve and have an opportunity to do so. I'm having to field calls from business owners and other citizens about dangerous fights and rising insurance costs.”

Alex had heard similar concerns not long ago and wondered if all of this really just came down to 'Maxwell Lord told me to.' But the concerns weren't without merit. Statistically Metropolis was the safest city in the world, but Alex doubted that was a comfort if someone was in the vicinity of Superman trading a heat vision attack with someone throwing a car at him. Other cities were having similar issues. Opal City was a mess, but the DEO could never do anything because the mess there was a human mess, sorta; _creepy._

“Is this a project you would be willing to take on?” the Mayor asked.

Alex had already been there longer than she expected. “How much more time do you have to talk about this?”

“Whatever you need.” the Chief of Staff answered.

_Ok then._ “First of all, if this unit is called in, then it would have to be my show.” Alex looked at the Mayor, “if any issues arose, you and I would hash them out.”

The Chief of Police frowned but the Mayor said, “I might need a special assistant to help me with this.”

“We can talk about that. You'd need twenty, probably thirty people to form the core of this. I'd need to have my pick from across the police department and probably others from outside I'd want to hire.”

They sat and waited for Alex to keep talking. The Chief of Police held his frown.

“I'd have to have some social workers and psychologists involved with this as well. These situations aren't as cut and dried as people like to think. Almost certainly need a linguist or translator of alien languages.”

“There might be some grants we could get for some of this,” the Chief of Staff said.

“We could talk about this for hours and you guys could decide that you don't like any of it. How about a consultant's fee?” Alex said, only half joking.

She found out how serious they were when the Chief of Staff pulled out a checkbook and asked, “how does thirty thousand sound?”


	4. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Supergirl – Kara Danvers**

Kara woke a few minutes before sunrise.

Two familiar items were apparent. The sight of James sleeping beside her and the satisfying feel in her body of another night of lovemaking. She thought of a list of things she needed to do today. Things she had put on somewhat of a backburner for the past few days that were now faintly nagging at her.

She hadn't been completely negligent. She had been to the office. She had been active as Supergirl. But mostly and most enjoyably, she had entangled her body with James' for long periods of time. Even now she wanted to move closer to him and wrap her arms around him. Kiss his back. Wrap her legs around him.

She pushed herself to the other side of the bed and sat with her feet on the floor. Kara breathed deep and decided that she at least needed to call her sister.

Alex had called her yesterday morning announcing that she was going to spend time at the oceanfront. Kara hadn't thought about it at the time but Alex must have had more on her mind that caused her to call. She may have wanted to check on her, maybe wanted to invite her to breakfast. Kara didn't probe deeper because at the time of the call she had been playing around in the bed with James. Before a conversation with her sister could get going, James had touched her back, sending a wave of desire through her. After Alex hung up, she and James started tickling each other. Soon they were at it again and Kara had forgotten about the call until now.

She didn't feel guilty, but decided with certainty that she would make contact with Alex today. Looking over at James again, she judged that he would be sleeping until much later in the morning. She might have time to get breakfast with Alex and then bring him something off the menu.

While she showered, Kara considered stopping at James' place and retrieving some extra clothes for him. Here he had a casual outfit, a work shirt, slacks, and a tie, and two sweatsuits. _I'll ask him later, it's a short flight._ She was low on groceries too. Her head filled up with a list of donuts, potstickers, frozen burritos, and candy bars and she thought it might be best to shop with James together.

With that thought, Kara began to wonder how close she and James had gotten to just living together. _Would that be bad?_ Kara decided that it wouldn't be. But it would be fast. How would James feel about that? They hadn't talked about it. This was something that was just happening. It 'wasn't bad' in the way that if a tidal wave had swept them up and deposited them on an island where food was plentiful and the weather was always nice it wouldn't be bad. But it also wasn't the same as discussing it and making the decision together. The tidal wave analogy wasn't right either. It wasn't as if a disaster had happened. What had happened was love.

She dressed and exited the bathroom and looked at James laying in the bed. They could talk now. They talked for a little while the other night. She could just sit on the bed next to him. Maybe hold his hand on her knee. She could rub his shoulder. Those innocent thoughts of touching him sent a wave of desire through her body and she realized that she couldn't do that now. They wouldn't be talking for very long.

Kara decided to go over to her sister's. She zoomed across the city, found a secluded spot near Alex's apartment building, changed into civilian clothes, and arrived at Alex's door just as she was returning from a morning run.

“Kara!” Alex said with an uplift in her voice. “ I haven't seen you in days.” They entered the apartment. It was as immaculate as Kara remembered. “Let me get showered. Then I've got some news for you.”

Kara sat in a chair and listened to Alex's tempered excitement. As she dressed, Alex explained how her meeting with the Mayor and his staff went and the project that she would be putting together.

It sounded promising to Kara. Like something that could be a model for cities around the world. Alex would have her own vision imprinted on Alien/Metahuman response forever. And Alex could do it right. No Cadmus. And the amount of money she was given up front was surprising. But Alex didn't sound as happy as this warranted.

“It sounds great, but I'm worried about Maxwell Lord's involvement. He wants something out of this.”

“Maybe for you to protect his investments first.”

“Might simply be greed.”

“It's something to keep an eye on,” Kara said, “But I think it will be fine. From what you said it sounds like you'll be in charge.”

Kara noticed that Alex was putting in a bit of extra time in prepping herself than she usually did. It wasn't excessive, simply apparent. She applied a citrus flavored scent that Kara had never known her to wear. Alex looked at her arms in the mirror when she put on a short sleeved shirt, seemingly to measure how they looked.

Alex excitedly told her about the shops and stores on the oceanfront, so they decided to try one of those for breakfast. They arrived at a restaurant called 'Malibu Farm' and Kara liked their patio seating. It was elevated with a great view enhanced by a sunny day. The restaurant wasn't busy so they were seated at a table made for a group of four.

“Uh oh,” Alex said.

“What?”

“You're about to spread out and make more than one order aren't you?”

Kara grabbed a menu. “I'm hungry okay?”

“Fine,” Alex laughed, “Just don't get any on me.”

“I don't do that.”

Alex stared at her.

“I replaced that shirt a long time ago.”

The table was made to look like a door. But not repurposed; specially made. The chairs were cushioned with something that looked like a rug, but were very comfortable. Kara looked at the large plates that the other customers were being served on and was pleased by what she saw. Looking at the menu, she pointed out to Alex that they made healthy eating a priority.

“Since when was that a thing for you?”

“Not for me,” Kara said, “for James.”

Alex looked at her for a moment then asked, “Has he been home since that night?”

“Yes,” Kara said, “he had to grab an outfit for work.”

A waiter arrived to take their order. Alex ordered the house's two eggs scrambled hard, wheat toast, and seasoned breakfast potatoes. Kara wanted two orders of the french toast with berry topping and extra whipped cream.

“Other than that, he's been at your place all this time?”

Kara nodded happily, feeling her ponytail bounce around. Then she pushed her glasses back on her face.

“At least now I know why I have trouble getting you on the phone.” Alex checked to see if the waiter was coming. “I knew something was going to happen the way you were acting, but woah.”

Kara lifted her chin. _Yep, whoa._

“Kara, doesn't his back hurt?”

Leaning forward, she said, “He hasn't complained yet. I bet he wouldn't if it did.”

Alex started laughing and Kara joined her.

“You're going to scare him off.”

“Trust me Alex,” Kara said and waved her hand down her torso. “He ain't scared of this.”

Alex diverted the conversation toward getting Kara's opinion of former DEO she could hire. Kara considered diverting it back and giving her details, but then their food arrived. When the large plates were placed before them, Kara ordered coconut flour pancakes for James to go. Then they began to eat. Alex methodically picked at her plate. Kara took in the flavors of the food at a quicker pace. The french toast was better than she expected; sweet, crisp at the edges, and gooey. Even the whipped cream was excellent. When the pancakes arrived they also looked delicious, even as Kara decided that the recipe was too 'healthy' for her.

“Is it time to bring James his food?”

Kara detected something in Alex's voice. She wondered if it was envy. But she couldn't think of a reason she would be envious of her and James' time together. But, she was just thinking about leaving. “I was,” Kara said, “just thinking about it.” Did Alex not like what she was seeing? “Is that bad?”

“No Kara,” Alex answered, “It's fine.”

“Do you think I'm handling this ok?” Kara asked, wondering if there was some sisterly advice Alex wanted to impart.

“You're doing great Kara. Being Supergirl, doing this. All I could say would be maybe slow down a little” Alex shrugged then said, “But you're doing great.”

There was something there Kara thought. Something else was on Alex's mind. But Kara didn't want James to wake up hungry. So she decided to try to catch up to her later in the day, after she handled the tasks she allowed to pile up on her.

When she arrived back at her place, James was still sleeping. She left the food on the oven for him and checked to see what drinks she had. Satisfied with what she saw, she sent him a text message to call her when he woke up and headed into the CatCo offices.

In her office, Kara signed into her computer and found that the organizational chart was still blocked. The job posting intranet was shut down. This was strange. CatCo was a large organization. Large enough that employees could transfer from city to city if they needed to. Shutting down it's intranet would cause problems eventually. _But right now, how am I supposed to check out career options?_

She decided to wander the building and physically check out the different departments housed within. She hadn't planned on leaving National City anyway, so whatever she was going to choose was probably already here. As she wandered, she noticed that many of the department heads were missing. She asked some of the other employees about it and was told that they had been called to an out of town meeting.

Kara hoped that James hadn't missed a call. She hadn't remembered his phone ringing at all or any text messages regarding urgent business. But she didn't think that Cat would exclude James purposefully from important company functions. A call to Cat got nothing but a quick voice mail, as if her phone was turned off. Kara decided that she must be safe if she's calling people to wherever she is and put it out of her mind as she continued to roam the building.

The National City Tribune offices were housed in two floors of the CatCo building. The metro, suburban, and breaking news departments were all on one floor. Kara wandered between the desks as reporters and editors moved about her busily. She found it a bit raucous. Kal told her from time to time that the best part of working for the Daily Planet was that huge amounts of information flowed through the offices. Even odd rumors could end up opening up avenues in which he could act to help people.

She extended her hearing and agreed that there was a lot of information being traded back and forth. But she decided that she didn't have the same zest for investigative reporting that Kal had developed. Kara found that she missed her days studying for admission into the Kryptonian Science Guild. Before her family, her friends, and her world were taken from her she was going to be admitted with the highest scores ever achieved. She had been told that she was Krypton's next great scientific mind in waiting.

Kara had come to love earth, but one thing she didn't love were it's fractious governments and odd level of scientific achievement. Some groups and individuals had access to technology that approached what was available on Krypton, but the masses didn't. The state of world government didn't allow for wide scientific collaboration; the kind that produced breakthroughs.

At one point, she wanted to build a commercial Fusion reactor. Clean renewable energy would solve many of Earth's problems. But Kal and Jeremiah advised against it; Kal most adamantly. Jeremiah, she felt, was mostly shocked that what appeared to be a 16 year old girl knew how to build such a power plant.

As she pondered on the conversations that led her to acquiescing to Kal and Jeremiah's objections, she found herself on the next floor of the building. This was where the Tribune offices for sports, entertainment, and science reporting were housed. Out of curiosity, she went to the science area. It was in a quiet corner of the floor. The editor was there. A caucasion male with dark hair and somewhat large ears, who sat quietly working. He appeared to be in his early sixties. Kara's eye was drawn to a framed copy of an old magazine hanging behind him. It was an issue of Amazing Stories from 1939. There was a drawing of a robot that was walking on legs that would be too thin to carry it's large frame. The words 'I, Robot' were on the cover to the left of the robot. But the name of the writer threw her off.

“Not Asimov?” Kara asked, remembering the Will Smith movie that took its title from the science fiction story titled 'I, Robot' written by Isaac Asimov.

The man tapped his desk with a pen and said, “Nope, common mistake tho.”

Kara took a quick look around noticing that there were two empty desks with computers ready to go. The area had quick access to a stairwell. No one else on the floor even glanced this way.

The man continued. “This,” he said, tapping the frame twice with his pen, “was written a decade before that story and was an influence on it.” He paused from working and studied her. “Kara Danvers right?”

Kara had never noticed this man before. “Yes. Have we met?”

“Nope, but I was in Cat Grant's office the day after Supergirl saved the plane. I remember you from that. Cat said you might stop by.”

“She did? When did she say that? And why?”

“She called me two days ago to ask me a bunch of questions, mostly about why CatCo's quarterly science publication doesn't sell as much as she wants it to.”

Kara didn't know CatCo had such a publication. Maybe that's part of its problem.

“As to the why, I'm told that's up to you.”

She felt an odd attachment to this area of the building. Kara wondered if there was a way to influence Earth's scientific development through journalism. It was an odd question, but she wanted to return to scientific thinking. If she couldn't use her knowledge to advance humanity directly, if it was dangerous like Kal and Jeremiah thought, maybe she could push or inspire others to make the advancements.

The man seemed content and happy even though Kara suspected everyone else on the floor found this area of the building boring. “Why do you do this?” she asked.

He lifted his eyebrow for a second and then answered, “Because the scientific method is the single greatest problem solving tool that exists. Science provides fuel for hope, shows the way to help others, and teaches us how to be compassionate.” He smiled. “I have a young acquaintance who might be pleased to hear it stated that way. Ha. Good dude.”

Kara's comfort in the area grew and she decided that her idea was worth consideration.

“I'm Oscar by the way,” he gave her his card. “Feel free to stop by anytime. It gets lonely over here.”

“Kara looked at the card. “Binder? Like the bridge?”

“I have,” he said, “some connection to the bridge's designer.”

Kara shook his hand and then remembered that she needed to meet up with Eve Teschmacher.

On the way, she got a call from James. “Hello sleepy,” she said.

“You let me sleep.”

“You were a busy man. You deserve some rest. I left you some breakfast.”

“I saw. Where did you get this?”

Kara told him about the restaurant where she and Alex had breakfast. When she described its look and view they decided to have dinner there soon. She paused for a moment in a hallway, thinking of sitting with him at night looking out at the ocean.

“Why don't you stop at your place and get some extra clothes.”

“You'd be ok with that?”

“I'd _like_ that. I'll clear you a drawer.” Kara felt good about telling him. A drawer wasn't so big of a deal, considering what their relationship was moving quickly to, but it still felt good to talk about that small aspect.

James told her he'd be coming into the office soon and she told him she couldn't wait to see him.

She found Eve waiting at her old desk outside of Cat Grant's office. She was wearing a dress with a peach, red, and white pattern that hung to the top of her calves. Kara thought she was attractively curved with a cheery smile. Her hair was a blonde shade similar to her own and was curly.

“Sorry no Cat again Miss Teschmacher.”

“Please call me Eve,” she said. “It's not so bad if I'm going to get paid to drink her coffee.” Her voice was bubbly and slightly nasally in a cute way.

“Don't let her hear you say that. And you can call me Kara.”

They decided to have lunch at the nearby cafe Kara liked to frequent with Alex, James, or Winn.

“Had you been trying to get into CatCo for long? National City is a long way from New York.”

“I was looking to move here. I like the weather a lot better than the upper east coast.” Eve gulped then continued. “Once I got your job offer,” Eve paused, “that night really, things, uh, conspired to make CatCo the place for me.”

“I have a friend who took a job here because he needed change. It's worked out pretty well for him and he came from Metropolis.”

“That's great. In my situation,” Eve said, “well, to paraphrase, some of us seek change, others have change thrust upon them.”

Kara liked Eve, She seemed to be fun to hang out with. But she did have an odd nervous tick here and there. Maybe she was nervous about working for a boss she hadn't met yet. They sat and enjoyed some small talk. After eating, Kara sent her home and advised her to call tomorrow morning. She wanted to take the time to introduce her to Cat personally, but Cat needed to be present for the introduction.

When Kara returned to the CatCo building, she found James in his office. He appeared to be frustrated by an inability to access a computer file. Kara crept up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders while he sat.

“Everything ok?” she asked.

He turned in his office chair and scooted forward so she was standing between his legs. Greeting her with his eyes, he looked up at her and smiled. Kara couldn't help but match his smile.

“Seems fine, but it looks like Cat archived a project I was working on.”

“What was it?”

“A unified design for all of the CatCo media properties. I had been suggesting it to her since she hired me. She decided to give the ok for it before the Myriad thing happened,” he said, “right before Barry popped in actually.”

Kara remembered the 'scarlet speedster' that briefly visited from a parallel universe. It was one thing to theorize about alternate realities, but to have proof of their existence was pleasantly jarring.

James continued, “I don't get why she wouldn't let me access it now.”

“She's not answering her phone. Do you need me to find her?”

“Winn already traced her. She's at a resort in Colorado.”

It seemed odd to Kara that Cat might be taking a vacation. She also felt uncomfortable with Winn being able to track her down, although she might have asked him to do the same thing if she had decided that she needed to reach her. “What do you think she's doing?”

“I don't know. I guess I'll find out when I need to.”

Kara remembered that some of the department heads had been called to an 'out of town meeting'. _Is Cat doing something with personnel?_ She also couldn't decide if she should be upset that James wasn't included, or happy; considering how much time they had been able to spend together. Thinking that they were going to be together again tonight, she decided to be happy.

“Have you talked to J'onn?” James asked.

“I haven't.”

“Clark says they want to hold him at a minimum security facility while they continue to debrief him.”

Kara didn't like the sound of that. “He's ok with that? Kal is?”

James shifted in his seat. “Clark is. Someone told him.” James paused and stood up. “Ok, Clark knows this guy who says if he needs to he can get him out, but that so far everything is being handled in an above board way.”

“Who is telling him this?”

“Make sure you keep this to yourself,” James said, “This guy works out of Gotham City.”

“Are you talking about that crazy dude?”

“You've met him?”

“No. He's a lunatic. And Gotham City is a mess.”

James held his hands up, trying to calm her. “There's a lot more to him than meets the eye.”

“Have you met him?'

“Yes. Once.” James seemed to get lost in thought. “A few times. I.” He rubbed his nose.

Kara remembered that James did that after one of his nightmares. “You ok?”

“Yes.” He seemed to clear up. “I talked to him once.”

“What did he say to you?” She was eager to hear this.

James let out a single laugh and then said, “He said, 'take the job in National City'”

“What?” _Why would he care about that?_

“Clark thought the same thing as you the first few times he ran into him. But as time went on he really started trusting him.”

Kara decided she needed to see what J'onn thought about this. Then she noticed a small travel bag sitting next to James' desk. She used her x-ray vision to find out it had some clothes items and a Dopp kit inside. “Are you bringing that to my place?”

James nodded.

Kara gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I'll drop it off for you.” Then she tapped him on his chest and said, “You make sure you bring you.”

After taking James' bag to her apartment, Kara flew out to the DEO base. It was definitely being closed down. There were agents there but reduced in number. All of the prisoners had been transferred out. Most of the computers were gone. But J'onn was here, still allowed to be present at the base. Kal just happened to be with him. But they mysteriously stopped talking when they saw her.

She walked over and gave both of them hugs. “James says that you're going into minimum security? Are you really ok with that?”

“I think it's for the best. With all of the information that I'm giving the government, I'm being considered an asset. They want me in a safe location.”

“I don't think you should do it. What if it's a Cadmus trick?”

“Don't worry Kara. I've got an attorney. She thinks this is the best way to go about this.”

“I got some information. Cadmus is in no way involved,” Kal said.

“Did your friend in Gotham tell you that?”

“What's his involvement in this?” J'onn asked.

“He says it's one hundred percent safe,” Kal said. He looked J'onn in the eye and said, “Without a doubt.”

“He said that?” J'onn asked.

Kal nodded, “he told me 'without a doubt.'”

“Hmm,” J'onn said, “ok then.”

_Who is this guy they trust so much?_ Kara thought. J'onn had clearly been reassured by his involvement. Kara was still as wary as she had been, but it seemed she would need to trust it all to work out.


	5. Cat Grant

**Cat Grant**

The final agreement was sealed more quickly than Cat had expected.

This was the final portion of talks that had been going on for months. She thought that she would be stuck in this Colorado resort, knee deep in negotiations, for the rest of the week. But things went smoothly. Cat flew in the previous morning and joined her Board of Directors and key employees from the other company for the final talks.

This deal was going to be the final piece of what she had been trying to build with CatCo since she started as a gossip columnist with wild dreams of becoming a media mogul. Slowly she had built and acquired blogging, magazine, newspaper, podcasting, radio, streaming, and television assets. She molded, forced, and bullied the disparate companies into a cohesive whole. Now that company would be made stronger by the tool that provided her start; gossip.

She never thought she would be negotiating with LexCorp. But the rumored insanity of Lex Luthor had finally been exposed. Cat wasn't surprised; she found much gossip to be true in the end. But then she heard another rumor. After Lex would be imprisoned, LexCorp would be under the control of Lex's sister Lena. And Lena was making plans to restructure LexCorp.

Over the years, Lex had acquired many companies haphazardly. Some of them had media assets. Lex always found ways to make his many acquisitions profitable, but for most other business people, LexCorp would be an unwieldy enterprise. Lena wanted to reorganize the company and focus it into technology, pharmaceuticals, computing, manufacturing, and research and development; or so the rumor said.

So Cat tracked Lena down and asked her. The rumor was true. And what better destination for the assets that Lena was going to discard could there be than CatCo? Lena told Cat that herself. Lena was also willing to use her money to prove it. Together they discussed a plan. CatCo would restructure with a dual class stock structure. Cat would hold the higher class stock and thus have control of the company's operations. Lena would rebrand LexCorp as LCorp and hold most of the lower class or trading stock.

When CatCo aligned all of the assets it would acquire it would become a media company with a true worldwide footprint. Lena showed Cat projections that CatCo stock would quintuple or perhaps trade higher than that. Lena would then sell off her trading stock and regain her investment with substantial profit. The National City Tribune gaining a reach rivalling the Daily Planet and the New York Times was a chef's kiss.

Cat tried to imagine the look on Perry White's face when he found out that his former gossip columnist had control over a newspaper with almost as many subscribers as his own and access to multiple platforms that the Daily Planet didn't.

Cat took a look around at all of the faces in the room. Her soon to be former board of directors greedily waited for their payout; good riddance to them. Assistants and aides shivered with anticipation. Department heads smiled thinking of the exciting future that lay ahead. Even the sun beaming into the room seemed to want this to happen.

The only department head that was missing was James. But anytime anything even sounding like Luthor was mentioned, even jokingly, he seemed to twitch and get nervous. _Better just to leave him out of the loop on this for now._ He'd come to see the benefits of this soon enough. And he'd be busy. All of these companies would have to have redesigned logos and branding at the very least.

Even if she had brought it up, James might have chosen to stay in National City. It was clear that he and Kara had been making their own 'corporate deal' sometime after Cat had let Kara make use of that office. _Let them have them have their sweaty fun in the sheets for a few more days_. When Cat got back to the office there would be plenty of work to hand out.

Cat signed off on the required paperwork and, accompanied by a round of applause, stood up to shake Lena's hand.

Cat started working the room. Some of these folks would be upper management in the strengthened CatCo, so she took some steps in getting to know them. _If I don't want these people working with me, I may as well find out now._ She turned around and saw the general manager of a television station in Tennessee that she now owned. _That tie,_ Cat thought, _should I say something about it or just fire you now?_

After about an hour of that, Cat started thinking about how she might spend the next couple of days up here. The rooms were already paid for so she thought that she may as well take advantage. _Maybe a massage_. Lena suggested that they grab a lunch at the five star Mexican restaurant that was attached to the resort

Right before they made their order, Cat noticed someone sitting at the restaurant bar. Someone she hadn't seen in more than ten years. The woman stared straight ahead, barely touching her drink. Cat got up and moved toward her. She motioned for Lena to join her. It wasn't everyday that she could introduce a billionaire to a cabinet official; even if it was an official that people rarely spoke about.

“Isabella? How are you? What are you doing up here?” Cat asked.

Isabella turned to look at Cat. “Hi Cat,” she sighed. She looked at her drink for another moment then turned to Cat again. “Coal. I'm here because of Coal.”

“Coal?” Lena asked.

Isabella turned slowly to look at Lena. “Coal. So much coal.”

Cat introduced Lena Luthor to Isabella Sofia Moya, her college friend and current United States Secretary of the Interior. Cat and Lena then found out that Isabella had been at the resort for four days, in meetings, reviewing coal mining leases.

“So many leases. So many papers. So many signatures. And talking, so much talking. About coal. Nothing but coal.” Isabella turned to Cat, “Coal in the morning” She turned to Lena, “Coal in the evening.” She picked up her glass, “So I thought I'd get drunk off this chair and find out if coal is more interesting with a hangover. But I can't.”

“Why not?” Cat asked. “In college you could handle five of those before you started,” Cat held her fingers up in quotation marks, “'dancing'.” She watched Lena close her eyes and press her lips together.

“Because I got a call that the President is landing in a couple of hours to pick me up. They want me in a National Security Council meeting in flight.”

“Well,” Lena said, “it's not coal.”

“They never ask me about these things. I bet they're going to ask me about coal.” Isabella shifted her voice to imitate the President. “Tell me about coal. Is the coal secure?” She returned to her regular voice. “Then a chartered plane back out here. Then two more days of coal.”

“Do you _have_ to go?” Cat asked.

“What do you mean?”

Lena said, “I have aides and assistants sit in on meetings for me all the time.”

“Call 'em and ask,” Cat said, “then we'll all get as drunk as you like.”

Isabella sat for a moment and then pulled out her phone. “Mick, I'm going to send someone from my staff for the meeting. You ok with that?”

Cat heard the reply “Fine” and then the disconnect.

Isabella then called her chief of staff and told him he would be sitting in on a security briefing. Her entire staff volunteered to help out. She then took a moment and downed her drink in one gulp.

“Join us over at the table,” Cat said.

She did and the three of them had lunch. Then they got drunk in the afternoon. Isabella showed Cat and Lena how not to dance in the middle of a restaurant while onlookers looked at them strangely. They enjoyed a massage. Cat decided she would get a massage while drunk more often.

They decided to meet up at the Secretary's room. Cat followed Isabella while Lena excused herself to change clothes and make a few phone calls. Cat grabbed a few of her items and took them to Isabella's room to get cleaned up. They decided to go with two large bottles of water while they waited for Lena.

“I'm surprised that you haven't asked me why I'm out here,” Cat said.

“I assumed that you were making some deal with Lena,” Isabella held her hand up to keep Cat from speaking. “I don't know if I'm supposed to know about that sort of thing or not. I think I'm better off not knowing anything. I don't know the legal crap or the 'appearance of impropriety' stuff.”

_Fair enough,_ Cat thought and took a drink of her water. She wanted to tell her to hang on to her CatCo stock if she had any, but thought better of it. Wandering around the suite, she decided that the heels she was wearing were too high. As she took a look out of the window, she tried to commit a trip to her room, to change shoes, to memory.

“Tell me the fun part of being a Cabinet Secretary.”

Isabella thought for a long period of time. “Swearing in day was good. It's one of my best pictures.

Cat waited for more as Isabella swirled the water in her bottle around.

“The occasional chartered jet ride is nice. People are respectful, always saying 'Madam Secretary' and such. That's at least better than I had it before.”

Cat went to the couch and sat. “You didn't have to take it did you?” She kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under her thighs, trying to get comfortable.

Isabella sat on the opposite end of the couch. She picked up the remote and then sat it down, perhaps remembering she had a guest in the room with her. “No. I didn't have to.” She waved her hand casually. “You remember my brother right?”

Cat nodded. Isabella's brother was the CEO of a mining company. Their father had been grooming them to take over the business since they were both teens. The brother followed that desire with slight enthusiasm. Cat remembered that Isabella couldn't care less. Cat saw a woman sitting with her who seemed bored and dragged down, not the vibrant, fun friend of their youth; the one who peeked from behind the curtain when they were down at the restaurant just a little while ago.

“Well, he put that super PAC together that raised money from all of those mining companies. It was like,” Isabella paused, “I don't remember how much money they raised. And those commercials they ran were horrible. I didn't want any part of that. But for doing that he got to be asked to be the third person to take the position in the term.”

Cat tried to remember who else had held that Cabinet position, but she couldn't. She couldn't think of any Secretary of the Interior. _If you weren't sitting right in front of me, I wouldn't care...at all._

“He thought about it for a few days and then came in my office and said, 'you take it'. He said, 'I know you aren't happy here. Just take this before they offer it to somebody else. Maybe you'll like it. At least it will look good on the resume.' So I did.” She scratched her forehead. “I don't think they care who is doing it. They insisted that the staff stay. And,” she shrugged, “I'm not sure who I would put in those positions anyway. It's a mess Cat. I.” Then Isabella just stopped for a moment. “Just a night of enjoyment. That's all I want right now.”

So they reminisced about their college years while they waited for Lena. After a while Cat decided to send Lena a text to find out what was taking her so long. Before she could, her phone and Isabella's started ringing at the same time. When Cat looked at her phone there were seven news alerts flashing on her screen. Isabella answered hers and started talking.

“I'm fine. Who is this?” Her eyes widened.

The door of the suite slammed open and many, many large men with identical navy blue suits flooded the room. “I have eyes on,” one of them said. There were so many Cat couldn't tell which one was talking. Then it seemed all of them were talking.

“Secure the room.”

“Check the windows”

“No one in the bedroom.”

“Secure over here.”

“Who are you!” one of them yelled in Cat's face.

“I'm Cat Grant you big slab of meat!” she yelled back louder. Then she reached for the cell phone she dropped in the commotion. One of the men grabbed her, while another picked up the phone. “Do I have to demand a phone call? What the hell!”

“It looks like a phone.”

“That's because it's a phone. Give it to me.”

The man waited for a nod from someone who entered the room last. He must have been in charge because as soon as he nodded the phone was shoved into her hand. But the man stared at her intensely, daring her to use it. Cat dared and started reading one of the news alerts. The headlines left her trying to keep her breathing steady. _AirForce One down? Congressional Junket Killed in Bomb Blast? Oh my god._

The man in charge moved to Isabella. “Ma'am, I'm Agent Jones. I'm here to place you under Secret Service protection.”

Cat watched Isabella's legs become more shaky as it began to dawn on her what was happening. _Was the_ entire _National Security Council on Air Force One?_

_“_ Are we,” Isabella stammered, “leaving?”

“A Federal Judge will be here shortly Ma'am.”

“What about the... the Speaker?”

“Killed in Tel Aviv Ma'am.”

She began to lose her balance.

“Get a chair!” Two of the Secret Service agents gently leaned her back into a chair a third had brought over. “Are you ok? Do you need medical attention?”

“Cat!”

“Bring her over.”

Cat was firmly escorted to Isabella's left side, knelt beside the chair, and then looked into the most fear filled eyes she had ever seen. They looked at each other without speaking.

“In here,” someone said. And a short woman, with short hair and wearing overalls appeared in front of them. Cat felt her lips and her eyebrows traveling toward each other.

“I was gardening,” the judge said.

“We're ready Ma'am.” Cat and one of the agents helped Isabella to her feet. Isabella's grip on Cat's forearm was so tight that Cat thought her arm was going to bruise. The judge was holding two books stacked together, one of which was a copy of the Constitution.

Isabella placed her right hand on the books, was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, and then escorted from the resort suite. Cat was dragged along, as Isabella wouldn't let her go.


	6. James Olsen

**James Olsen**

When he slept, he could remember.

He remembered the feel of her lips just as they touched his. There was so much in that brief touch. Tentativeness and promise. A restrained, yet smoldering sensuality. But he was taken. Myriad had him.

He had turned and walked away from her, finding himself marching in a crowd that had become mindless drones. He had been disconnected somehow; inhabiting his body but not able to think or act of his own will. His head had been filled with some sort of code. Mostly Kryptonian, but other non-earth languages as well.

There was no optimism, he had been turned into one of the drones, one of many pushing code into a computer. Hour after hour he had existed only as a conduit for the Myriad code.

Then he remembered another time when hope and optimism ceased to exist for him.

He remembered a voice. The voice he hated. “ _I admire you James. You were a better pal than he could have hoped for. But it didn't matter. I won. It's over. But it doesn't have to be for you.”_

He sprung up out of the bed and fell to the floor. The room, unfamiliar, seemed to spin around him. His heart beat painfully hard, somehow throbbing across his entire body. _What's happening? Where am I?_ He looked around but couldn't recognize anything. _It's another trick. Where am I?_ His heart beat harder and his legs trembled.

He got to his feet, but couldn't feel floor underneath him. _I'm dying_. He felt himself moving. Something struck him firmly, several times, on his chest and shoulders. It somehow helped him remain on his feet.

He remembered two other voices. Were they friendly? One was. But the other was never friendly. It was another trick. It had to be. But there were lies. So many lies. _What was true_? _What was the truth when everything was an illusion?_

There was something cold and hard on his fingertips. He inhaled deeply and tried to scream. But what his mouth produced was fluid not sound. He heaved again and again hearing a splashing sound in front of his face.

He found himself grabbing onto a toilet. The room seemed to crystallize in front of his eyes. It was a bathroom. Just a simple bathroom in an apartment; Kara's apartment. He spit what was left in his mouth out and stood.

He carefully looked around. After an examination, he decided that he was indeed in Kara's bathroom. Everything seemed to be in it's proper place. _What happened?_ He tried to clear his head and remember how he got from the bed to the bathroom; but he couldn't. When he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate he only saw purple colored flashes behind his eyelids.

He decided that it was a nightmare; better off not remembered.

With still uncertain legs he went back to the bedroom. He stepped on the shirt he was wearing yesterday and nearly slipped to the floor. He had forgotten that Kara had pretty much attacked him the previous evening and the clothes they were wearing were still scattered around the room.

Kara must have been out helping someone. _That's probably a good thing._ Relieved that she wasn't around to help him wonder how he got from the bedroom to the bathroom, James started gathering the clothes from around the room.

He put a load of clothes in the stackable washer Kara had and ate breakfast while they washed. There were still some of the coconut flour pancakes she had brought him so he ate what was left. Still delicious, he took some extra time to savor them, thankful for Kara's thoughtfulness. He showered while the clothes were in the dryer and, after pressing and folding the appropriate items, headed into CatCo.

He couldn't help but check Kara's office before going to his own when he arrived. She wasn't there.

Thinking that Cat may have returned, James decided to check her office. But in fact she still had not returned. Now he became concerned. _What exactly is happening in Colorado that is keeping Cat's attention so focused?_

He saw that Kelly's position hadn't been filled yet. He walked over and took a look at her empty desk. By now, her personal effects had probably been sent to relatives. He didn't know Kelly very well. She was friendly and polite. She had three brothers. She liked to wear one inch heels. That was the extent of his knowledge. But somehow he thought there was more about Kelly that he should know. He had no idea what it was. He felt that he had a very close relationship with Kelly. But he didn't. It was bothering him.

Mostly, he hated that Kara had been unable to save her. Winn had told him that when they were under the control of Myriad, the three of them had been made to jump off the side of the building. Kara was only able to save two of them. James tried to remember the incident. He closed his eyes, but was only able to perceive the same purple flashes he saw earlier.

“Hey James, what's up?” Winn was passing by and walked over.

James looked up from Kelly's desk and looked at Winn.

“Yeah,” Winn said

Together they walked toward Winn's desk. “Do you still remember everything you did under Myriad?” James asked him.

“Jumping off of a building?” Winn sat at his desk. “Relentlessly typing code into my workstation?” He spun in his chair. “Talking when I didn't want to and speaking somebody else's words? Yep, I remember all of that.”

James stood silently thinking.

Winn continued. “I remember that more clearly than what I had for breakfast yesterday. What's bringing this up? Kelly?”

_There's something about that name. What is it? I should know this._

“Hey are you OK?” Winn asked

James nodded and rubbed his forehead.  
“You should sit down.” Winn pulled a chair over and had James sit in it.

James felt confused. He had a nightmare he couldn't remember. And now this eerie discomfort with the name Kelly. Thoughts of Kara comforted him. “Any Supergirl chatter today?”

“Oh yeah. She's all over the city today.”

He could tell Kara, but he wondered if it would be a good idea. He'd be telling her about nightmares. _Possible nightmares, that I can't remember. Then feeling weird about the name Kelly. And that I mysteriously found myself throwing up in the toilet this morning_. James thought that she would either worry or think he was unstable. There were other things he wanted to talk to Kara about. And he felt that he was supposed to be helping her.

_What if she's still nervous about a relationship?_ Before she went to deal with Non and Indigo, Kara had come to his office and given him a “move on” speech. James thought that she thought she could get killed and didn't want him mourning. But there was still a sense of uncertainty about it. _Why wouldn't there be?_ He asked himself. _She can push a million ton space station off the planet and into space. I can do plyometric clap push ups._

“You sure you're alright?”

James looked directly into Winn's face. “Yep, I'm good.” Kara was never going to find out about this. To James, it would be pointless.

“Don't worry about not remembering being controlled by Myriad. When I think about almost hitting the ground, I think I'd be better off not remembering.”

_Excellent advice._ “You're right. I'm not going to worry about it.” James rose up. “I'm heading over to my office. Come by later and we'll make a plan to do something.”

In his office, James worked on some lower priority projects. He was still locked out of the redesign project he was working on so he decided that as long as he was going to be here he should find some way to keep himself busy. One project that had been on the back-burner was a 'coffee table' book of Supergirl photographs. There were questions about how to market it. That decision would dictate what photos would be chosen for it.

Since the marketing decision hadn't been made yet, it was difficult to move forward. So James had decided to gather CatCo's collection of Supergirl photographs and weed out which ones were not good enough for the publication, regardless of the intended market. He decided to go through the newest batch of photos.

While he was working, he felt a familiar hand on the left side of his back. Looking to his left, there was no one there. He heard her shift behind him to his right. When he turned his head in that direction, she was right in his face. Her smile was almost as large as the glasses she wore.

“Hi,” Kara said, her ponytail swinging behind her head.

“Hey you.” He rose from the light table he was sitting at and moved toward his larger desk.

With his back turned to her, he felt her presence in such a way that it made him warm, as if there were extra sunlight in the room. He felt himself blushing.

“I heard you were busy this morning,” James said as he sat in his chair.

Kara cleared a spot on his desk and sat on it to his right. “There was a six car accident on the NCH.”

“That sounds pretty bad.” James wondered why he didn't hear about it.

“Actually not. No one was injured. A woman went into labor so I took her to an emergency room. The cars were driveable except for one. The owner didn't have money to fix it, but her mechanic agreed to do it for free if I took some selfies with him.”

“That was very nice of you Supergirl.” A thought struck him. “Did you get copies of the selfies? I think I could use them in something.”

“No but the mechanic gave me his card.” She produced the card from her pocket and put it on the desk in front of him. Then she slowly crossed her left leg over her right and let her foot bounce up and down.

She was wearing a skirt and James watched her calfs flex. Just more than a few hours ago that very foot was behind his head. He thought about tickling her leg and then Winn walked into his office.

James could tell that Winn was happy to see the both of them and after greeting them asked if they wanted to get a late lunch. Kara, always happy to scarf down a meal, agreed and pulled James out of his chair.

They found a sandwich shop that had just opened not far from the CatCo building. There was work that the proprietor needed to complete. James thought the place should have waited to open as the lights seemed too bright and there was a slight bleachy smell. But Winn was eager to check it out and Kara's appetite wouldn't be knocked off course by a tidal wave. It was devoid of customers except for an older man munching slowly by the window, so they took a table near the center of the place and got comfortable.

Leisurely, they enjoyed each others company. Kara was the last to finish, having ordered two sandwiches. But even after she had finished they lingered in the oddly comfortable chairs the sandwich shop offered.

Their conversation turned to J'onn's status. James shot Kara a look that seemed to convey what he had intended; that the 'guy from Gotham' shouldn't be mentioned. So they managed to inform Winn of the situation while leaving him out.

With the time getting later than they expected it to be, they decided to head back to CatCo. James worked in his office, setting aside the 'coffee table' book in favor of another side project. Commotion started to pick up in the hall outside his office. He ignored it, until Winn shoved his office door open.

“James,” he said with near panic in his voice, “you need to come look at this.”

Grabbing his phone as he got up, he saw several news alerts scrolling now that his 'Do Not Disturb' setting was off. One alert said Air Force One had crashed. Another said it had been shot down.

James' eyes widened. _Shot down? By what?_

He moved faster and joined a group of co-workers whose attention was turned to the bank of monitors behind Cat Grant's desk. News was coming in from three locations; a site being withheld east of Colorado, Metropolis, and Tel Aviv. There was footage of Superman wandering around a still burning collection of wreckage in Metropolis. He had a painful and stricken look on his face. _Clark thinks he could have stopped it. If he didn't then he couldn't have._ There was other footage of a burning pile of concrete where a building once stood in Tel Aviv. The situation being reported felt impossible, but it was happening.

Air Force One had crashed sometime after leaving Colorado. Contact was lost sometime in the early afternoon. Footage of the wreckage was being withheld. The full passenger list could not be confirmed, but the President and the Vice President were dead.

A group of Senators were on their way to visit a STAR labs location in Metropolis when their transportation exploded. As many as twenty were making the visit. All dead.

Eighty seven Congressmen and women were on a junket in Tel Aviv. Sometime after midnight there, an explosion was reported at the hotel they were staying in. All were believed to be dead, including the Speaker of the House.

Reporters were erratic, some shouting over each other, others contradicting their own reports moments after making statements. Information was coming in unorganized bursts. As of now, there was no comment from the White House.

James stood paralyzed with shock. An icy feeling formed at the base of his skull as he sensed that there was more going on that wasn't being shared. A hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him from the room. He followed Kara down a hallway and into a stairwell.

She turned to him. “James? What is...”

“Tel Aviv,” James said. It was the first thing that came to his mind. There was nothing that could be done about a crashed airplane. Clark was in Metropolis. Maybe there were buried survivors in Tel Aviv. It felt ridiculous, but he couldn't think of what else could be hoped for. “Tel Aviv.”

He wished he hadn't said it. Kara had given him a kiss and already turned to leave. He was standing in the stairwell alone.

_Please be careful._

James wandered back into the hallway. People were scurrying about furiously. CatCo was a media organization that was missing it's leader and several department heads. It would be lucky to look competent in this situation.

He tried Cat Grant's number. Immediately there was a statement that the number had been disconnected. No ring at all. And there was something strange about the voice prompt.

Winn was at his desk staring at the screen. James said, “Winn, I need you to locate Cat again.”

He looked up at him and turned his computer screen to him. There was a huge amount of information on the screen but one thing that stood out was a message stating 'YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF NATIONAL SECURITY.”

“James, Cat's phone is being blocked by the National Security Agency. I can crack this, but I'm not sure you want me to.”

“Get out of there.” _At least this means she's alive, hopefully._

James spent the rest of the afternoon trying to help everyone he could with the coverage. He offered advice. Where needed he offered encouragement. He made decisions when asked. Being the only department head in sight, people started coming to him for everything. And he kept checking the screen to catch a glimpse of Kara.

When the sun went down, the CatCo offices were still frantic with activity. James was getting calls from television stations he had never heard of asking him for direction. He had no idea what that was about. _Why is 'Podunk City, Nebraska' asking me for coverage advice? Ask your actual boss._

Cat's balcony was the calmest place in the building. James wandered there and looked out over the city, wanting to take a breath before continuing to wander around helping. He heard several pairs of heavy footsteps approach from behind. When he turned there were four men in navy blue suits standing in front of him.

“Can I help you?”  
“Mr. Olsen,” the closest one said, “I'm agent Davis with the FBI. Would you come with us please?”

He could feel his heart beating. _What now?_ “Why?”

“The President needs you at the White House.”

_What?_ “Me? At the White House?” He instinctively, but slowly, reached toward his signal watch, restrained only by the thought that Kara and Clark were clearly busy But something else was off. They seemed to be expecting him to push the button.

Agent Davis said, “Ms. Grant asks that you don't push that.”

“Ms. Grant? Cat Grant?”

“Yes. The President and Ms. Grant needs you at the White House as soon as possible,” the agent said. “Alone. With your camera.”

CatCo employees had gathered outside of Cat's office. When James moved toward the door, they cleared a path. The agents followed behind him. He went to his office knowing he had a particular camera there, but not remembering how it was that it got there. He was confused by the sight of several cameras, but moved toward a drawer where a particular camera was. He didn't recognize it, but knew it was the one he was taking. It was older, but it was the one. _I'm in shock. I must be in some sort of shock._

Outside of the building, he was helped into a black SUV that had a police escort ready. Quickly they rode toward National City Airport. When they arrived, they continued out to a remote hangar. The agents led him to a locker room where he was greeted by a shorter man in a flight suit.

“I'm told this isn't the way you usually fly,” the man said, “but it's the best we can do right now.” He tossed James a flight suit and assisted him in putting it on.

“All this for a chartered flight?”

The man laughed. After getting the suit on they walked into the hangar. An F-15E Strike Eagle sat majestically, waiting for it's passenger.

“Excuse me,” a voice behind him said.

James turned to find a short, stout woman standing with a helmet.

“You'll need this.”

_That won't be all I need. Kara and Clark's powers counteract g forces. This might suck._

James' camera was placed in a storage compartment, he was strapped into the rear 'weapons officer' seat, the cockpit closed, and the jet began to taxi toward the runway. There was no time wasted. The jet engine fired, James felt pressure on his chest and his stomach, and they were in the air.

Less than two hours later, they were on the ground in Washington, DC. Another police escort brought him to the White House. There was a huge crowd of people outside the White House gates. The small motorcade rode in through the Northwest Gate and pulled up to the entrance of the West Wing.

The door was opened and James exited the vehicle. Two agents escorted him to the entrance of the building. A pair of soldiers posted at the door opened them for him and he was brought to the Roosevelt Room.

A large, brown oak table dominated the room. Seven chairs on each side and one more each at the head and foot. The room was well lit with several lights embedded into the ceiling. A plaque of Franklin Roosevelt caught his eye and for a moment he forgot there were other people in the room.

Cat Grant's voice said, “Give us the room.”

Footsteps made it clear that the room was emptying out and he heard the sound of doors shutting firmly. James saw Cat Grant standing beside a woman he didn't recognize.

“Cat, what is.”

She interrupted him, “Wait a moment.” Cat then looked at the woman

The woman offered her hand to him and he shook it politely. It was trembling. She said, “Thank you for coming Mr. Olsen, I'm.” She stopped.

Cat looked at her and briefly hung her head. Then she looked at him and said, “what she's trying to say is that she's Isabella Sofia Moya, the 46th President of the United States.”

_Who the hell is this?!_

“James, listen. When you are asked, she told you thank you for coming on such short notice and thank you for doing Ms. Grant this tremendous favor.”

“Um, what favor?” _That woman is scared out of her mind and you are really agitated._

_“_ James,” Cat said, “you're about to be asked to serve your country, we flew you up here at great trouble and expense, we can not take no for an answer.” She pulled out what looked like a one hundred page document in a blue pressboard binder, put it on the table beside them, opened it, and shoved a pen into James' hand. “Sign it.”

“Wait Cat, what is this?”

“A document making you Trustee of CatCo Worldwide.”

“What?”

“James, listen to me.” Cat took a breath. “I have no idea how much of the United States government is working. A fourth of the House and Senate are dead. The former President and Vice President are dead. There is half a Cabinet. The entire United States National Security Council is dead. We don't know who or what did this. I have to figure out who can help us find out. I don't know how much has to be restructured. I have to rebuild the leadership of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, the Justice Department, and the Intelligence Community. I can not do that until I place my assets in a blind trust. You're the only person I can trust with it. My sons are surrounded by Secret Service agents. Please James, sign it.”

James looked at Cat staring into his face. He couldn't form any words.

President Moya said, “Mr. Olsen will you please help us?”

He signed it.

Cat took the pen and signed the line under his. “I just restructured the company. Read this. It has all of the details. There are major changes.”

“I will Cat.”

“I know you'll have issues. I need you to keep an open mind.”

He nodded.

“Six months. Maybe. Six months. I'll be back.”

“Whatever you need.”

“Thank you for bringing your camera. The pictures you're about to take might be the most important you've ever taken.”

“What am I about to photograph?”

“Her,” Cat said.

James took a look at Isabella, the new President. She was slightly taller than Cat, but seemed unimpressive. She looked uncomfortable in her pantsuit. Afraid. The sight of her made him nervous.

“No one knows who she is,” Cat explained. “You're going to introduce her to the country. These pictures will be the first anyone sees of her.”

James nodded, understanding what was being asked of him.

“When people see her, it has to inspire confidence. There needs to be a feeling that everything is under control. Safe.”

He tightened the muscles in his face, not wanting to betray that he thought Cat was asking him for a miracle. “Are you Vice President?”

Cat burst into laughter. “Get real James. The Vice President is useless. And would have to be confirmed by the Senate.” She adjusted her own suit. “That can't happen anytime soon. My official title will be Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff.”

_Chief of Staff, the President's 'gatekeeper', I get it._ “OK Cat, what do you have set up here?”

She explained what was arranged and that for this he was going to be the only photographer. It sounded like simple, Presidential looking activities; but of course it was going to be up to him to make it look greater, to show people that there was a person holding the reins of power that they could have confidence in.

“But I get to go first,” Cat said. “I need to be sworn in. The pictures of me are not for publication. Understand? Just me.”

James nodded and they made their way toward the Oval Office. While they waited for Cat's sons to be brought in, he gave Isabella some coaching. Simple advice that nervousness had caused her to overlook. He told her to stand with her upper body upright, to look into the eyes of the person talking to her as if she were examining their brain, to flex her jaw a bit when she shook someone's hand. Crude advice, but James hoped it would provide something when photographed.

In the Oval Office, several officials were gathered. James saw that the Chief Justice would be handling these swearing ins. Cat's sons were brought into the room. Adam walked over to James and shook his hand.

“How's Kara?” Adam asked.

James made some adjustments on his camera. “She is great. Why don't you go ahead and stand by your mother.”

He knew the shots of Cat were going to be great. She projected certainty, confidence. The woman was radiant and powerful.

He had no idea how the shots of the President would turn out so he made sure to take lots of them and use varying angles so he could find the best ones. She stuttered a bit when she spoke the oath, even though she had already taken it.

Next, a group of military officers were brought in. They gave her a superficial briefing on military readiness Again James got plenty of material at various angles. As soon as the last officer finished, Cat had them led away.

When the military left, the ambassador from Argentina was brought in. He and the President sat side by side in separate chairs in the area of the Oval Office opposite of the desk. Perhaps being vigilant of what the ambassador was going to say, Cat stood nearby, but out of frame, staring intently at him. But he only told the President about his oldest daughter's recent birthday party while she nodded quietly. James got plenty of shots in-front and behind them

Then James, Cat, and the President were led to the Cabinet Room. There were only eight Cabinet members present, but James could make that work. Pictures of the President in the Cabinet Room usually drew the eye to the President anyway.

James started packing his gear and made sure he had the document that Cat had given him. Cat thanked him for agreeing to take care of CatCo for her and asked him again to keep an open mind. That was when he started to wonder what exactly Cat had done with her company. He felt as if he was being given a warning.

He was driven to an airport. The flight back to National City would be much more comfortable in the chartered jet that was provided. But he knew he was going to be up all night. He would need to chose the best photos tonight and have them ready for use for the morning. Sipping from a cup of coffee, he began to examine the now expanded breadth and depth of CatCo's holdings. The more he saw, the more nervous he got.


	7. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Description of collapsed building and dead bodies.

**Supergirl – Kara Danvers**

There were so many dead bodies.

Kara had traveled as fast as she possibly could to Tel Aviv, hoping that there was someone there she could help. But the explosion had already occurred. The building had already collapsed. Crews were already present trying to sift through rubble.

It looked as if there was no possibility of survivors. So Kara started working. Heavy equipment and supplies were needed, so she carried those items to the site. There were bystanders who were injured, so she tended to them, taking them to nearby hospitals if needed. Soldiers, doctors, and volunteers continued to arrive. She tried to help organize a gathering of people who wanted to be helpful. And she worked.

There were massive pieces of the building that needed to be dealt with. Being superhumanly strong and able to fly allowed her to remove those without trouble. She then thought to use her speed and clear other pieces of the building as quickly as possible. But she was advised against it. Engineers on site felt it would be better to move more carefully. So she did.

The first group of bodies she found caused her to have to fight back tears. Crushed, broken, bloody, and covered with dirt. They appeared to be a family huddled together. Kara imagined how terrified they must have been before they were killed. After moving them, she took a moment at the side of the collapse site

A soldier approached her and asked, “Are you OK?”

_Am I?_ She nodded, but didn't look at him.

“Have you ever been at a bomb site before?”

“No,” she said.

“There will be more bodies,” the soldier said before walking away and joining in with the on-site crews.

After taking another moment, she returned to help. The soldier was correct. There were more bodies; many more.

With Kara's help, even moving carefully, the work progressed rapidly. A layer of building would be cleared. Then a group of bodies would be moved to an identification site nearby. Layer after layer, she uncovered victims. Kara suppressed her sorrow at the sighting of each crushed body, and concentrated on the work.

It went on for hours.

The work progressed to a point where it appeared that Kara couldn't help any further. She decided to have a seat and take a drink of water. Officials wandered over, one at a time, to where she sat and thanked her for helping. Many days, possibly weeks, were saved due to her efforts.

Taking a look now, it would be easy to imagine that she had worked on a standard construction site, not the site of a mass grave.

Kara heard someone ask for help. It sounded like a whimper, as if the person asking had given up hope of being answered. It was a woman's voice and they asked for help again.

Kara looked around and saw that it wasn't anyone gathered on the site. She stood up. _Maybe someone survived._ She took a look with her X-Ray vision at the site. She kept looking for anything or anyone that could have produced the voice.

She found a room under the ground floor. It had been partially collapsed in. But there was a sizable pocket of space. Inside was a panicked woman with a small child silently clutching her leg. Kara went to an area where she could get into the room from above and spun like a drill to penetrate the ground beneath her.

A few moments later, Kara had the woman and her daughter topside. They needed food and water, but were otherwise unharmed. A crowd of people applauded and gathered around the two survivors. A doctor tended to them.

Kara took another look underground. There were no other rooms that had miraculously remained intact. There were no more miracles that she could produce. So she found herself wandering off.

She thought of Krypton. On the night she was rocketed off behind Kal, she remembered feeling the shockwave of the planet's destruction hit her ship and send it off course. Kara wondered if that was similar to what these people felt. But she had survived. These people would have felt a burning or a crushing, then nothing.

Without knowing how she got there, she was standing at the identification site. Most of the bodies had been placed in black bags. There was row upon row of the dead. So many people wouldn't be going home. So many families would be missing a loved one.

Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes. _Who would do this?_ _These three events must be connected, but to murder all of these people just to get to the Congressmen and women? What would they do next?_ She wondered what the stance of the American government would be and remembered that they still had some sort of tie with Cadmus. _Could things get hostile? Who is the new President?_ Is _there a new President?_

J'onn had already been taken into custody. Kara wondered if his status would somehow change. She was growing more and more fearful of what the result of his noble intentions might be. She thought about busting him out whether he liked it or not. But she wouldn't be able to hide him against his will.

She looked around to find a media set up. Zooming in with her vision and hearing she was able to find out how the events were being covered. There was still confusion all around. There was very little being stated that was definitive.

Some of the coverage featured an interview with Kal. He looked devastated. It happened in the middle of Metropolis in broad daylight. No warning. Just an explosion. Kara knew there was nothing he could have done. But she also knew he would have trouble dealing with so brazen an act.

She felt a need to get back to National City and find her family and friends. It seemed selfish, but she needed to know where they were and what they were doing. After checking in with the authorities who were handling the site and confirming there wasn't anything else she could do to help, she took off.

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean she went toward Metropolis first. The sun had been beginning to rise in Tel Aviv, but in Metropolis it was still late in the evening. The city was practically shut down. Most of the activity was centered at the site of the explosion, where the transportation carrying the Senators had been blasted to bits.

Her Telescopic vision allowed her to take a look without approaching. Dozens of inspectors appeared to be on the ground. What they were looking for, Kara couldn't tell.

“I saw you in Tel Aviv.”

Kara hadn't noticed Kal approach her. She saw the pained expression on his face and greeted him with a hug. “Are you OK?”

“I could have stopped it.”

“Stopped what? How?”

“I heard something.”

“What did it sound like?”

Kal concentrated and Kara knew he couldn't identify what he had heard. “There's no way you would have known it was something you needed to stop.” _Because this happened in the city while he was there, he's going to beat himself up about it for a long time. It's always the ones we can't save._ “What did Lois say about it?”

“The same thing you did.”

She decided she needed to call James. “I think Clark is going to be of more use on this than Superman. Have you heard from James?”

“No. And something weird is happening at CatCo.”

“What do you mean?” She pulled out her phone and dialed James' number.

“The managers of WLEX and LexComm are calling CatCo for guidance for some reason and aren't getting anyone.”

The call went straight to a voice mail, which meant his phone was off. James never left it off. “I've gotta go.”

When she was well outside of Metropolis, she sped up, creating a sonic boom. Landmarks and clouds whizzed by as she moved rapidly. When she arrived in National City she tried to call again with the same result. She started searching. James wasn't at CatCo, he wasn't at his apartment, and he wasn't at her apartment. Now Kara started to worry.

The entire CatCo building was buzzing with activity. Everyone was on site, except for Cat, James, and her. She changed back into her civilian clothes and located Winn. As she was approaching his desk she could hear several commentators on various screens throughout the office. The main topic was the state of the executive and legislative branches. There was no consensus whatsoever. A few of them worked for outlets that were not part of CatCo and she was mystified as to why what they had to say would matter to this company.

“Winn, do you know where James is?”

He looked up at her from his desk and waived his pen in a circle above his head. “He and Cat are at the White House.”

“What? Why?”

“A bunch of FBI agents showed up and told him that Cat wanted him at the White House. He left with them.”

Kara stood still in front of Winn and blinked.

“Why Cat is there is beyond me, but the NSA blocked her cell phone.”

She remained still for a moment then said, “Thanks Winn.”  
“Kara, what are you going to do?”

She had already decided what she was going to do, but she took a moment to weigh what the results of her showing up at the White House unannounced would be. There was no one to call to announce her intentions. More and more, she thought it would be seen as provocative But she couldn't think of anything else to do. _What do they want with him? Does he need help?_ She felt as if she was approaching paranoia, but she didn't like being out of contact with James.

An alert sounded on Winn's computer. He turned around to his screen. “Okay, let's see.”

Kara leaned over his shoulder. “What?”

“A flight plan was filed. DC to National City. It's a chartered jet that is commonly used for cabinet members.”

“Who's on it?”

“It doesn't say. But it has to be James or Cat or both of them. Why else would someone be traveling from DC to National City right now?”

It felt flimsy. She thought of meeting the plane on it's way. But that might be taken the wrong way. The government would probably be anticipating aggressive actions. She didn't like it, but she decided it would be best to wait at the airport for the plane to arrive.

At the airport, Kara saw that a security perimeter had been set up in the area that the plane would be arriving at. It looked like some FBI and some Border Patrol agents had been called in. It made no difference, she simply moved past them faster than the eye could follow and found a hiding spot while the plane maneuvered to land. She didn't even change out of her civilian clothes.

Taking a look at him in the plane, he seemed to be OK. He was reading a thick document with a stern look on his face. Cat Grant was not on board.

The plane landed and taxied to a stop. After a few moments, the door opened and James emerged. Kara popped out of her hiding space and called his name. She was only ten feet away from a Border Patrol agent who, in shock, turned his gun on her when she appeared.

“What? Hey! Freeze!”

“Wait,” James shouted. “She... works for me.”

_I work for you?_ She ran up to him and gave him a hug. “What's going on? Why is your phone off.”

James put his index finger to his lips and an agent approached them.

“A car has been arranged for you. Where do you need to go?” The staffer handed him his gear.

He took a hold of Kara's hand. “I need to get to the CatCo building.”

They sat silently during the car ride with Kara trying to decipher the look on James' face.


	8. James Olsen

**James Olsen**

James sat silently during the car ride, trying to determine what he was going to need to do over the next twenty-four hours or so. But other thoughts crept into his mind over and over again, interrupting his planning. _What the hell was Cat thinking? Trying to wheel and deal with the Luthors?_

He stared straight ahead, deep in thought while his right hand rubbed his chin. Kara was sitting to his left and grabbed onto his left hand. James looked over to see that her face was clearly filled with concern. But he didn't think it would be wise to say anything while they were riding in a government supplied vehicle. James tightened his grip in her hand in an attempt to provide her with some momentary re-assurance and to seek some for himself as well.

_What angle is Lex working now?_ James knew that Lex Luthor was in prison, currently captured and being punished for his long and varied list of crimes he had committed over the years. But he had been imprisoned before and had shown himself capable of being a menace even from behind bars. He once launched a scheme that would have destroyed a third of Metropolis if Clark hadn't stopped it. _But of course no one could prove the 'great philanthropist' Lex Luthor had_ anything _to do with it. He was 'in custody', being questioned for accounting irregularities the whole time._

The memory of a conversation he had with Clark entered his mind. It was fragmented. Clark was telling him that he didn't need to worry about Lex anymore, that Lex was in a specially designed facility. James remembered the sound of a scream. A scream so loud that it made his head hurt. He moved his right hand from his chin to his face. The scream seemed to echo, to reverberate.

“James, what's wrong?”

He couldn't allow himself to be or seem unsteady right now. Cat, and maybe more than that considering who currently held the Presidency, was counting on him. CatCo's employees were counting on him. And he needed to figure out what the true purpose of this deal Cat had somehow been persuaded to make was. LexCorp was controlled by the Luthor family and they were all insane megalomaniacs. Neither Lex, the father Lionel, or the mother Lillian could be trusted; all of them were dangerous. The document he had said that Lena Luthor was now in charge of LexCorp. _Could she possibly be any different?_

Clark had told him that once Lex bragged that two thirds of Metropolis worked for him, whether they knew it or not. Lois later told him that it was a lie, the real number was closer to eighty percent. _Eighty percent._

“James?”

_Clark, and Lois, and Perry, and I fought Lex in Metropolis. The Daily Planet was an important tool._ Here, once he took a full accounting of what was at his disposal, he would have CatCo. _What will it take this time?_ At the very least, he couldn't show any sort of weakness. Not with the Luthors. He would have to be strong, tough.

He sat up straighter and took his right hand and moved it to join his left hand in holding hers. “I'm OK, Kara. We just need to get over to CatCo.”

What happened in Metropolis could never be allowed to happen here in National City.

He looked into Kara's eyes and she smiled at him. _Never. Not here._

They arrived at the CatCo building. An agent helped them from the car and another handed him his gear. He made sure he had the document that Cat had given him. Both of the agents shook his hand. “Good luck Mr. Olsen.” Then they got into the car and vanished into the night.

He stood beside Kara and looked up at the the office floors. They were lit with activity. Kara smelled like she had been working at a construction site. But of course what she had been doing was far more significant.

“You were great tonight. If no one told you that I wanted to make sure you heard it.”

“I wish I could have stopped whatever collapsed the building.”

“There was no way to stop that. If there was you would have. But you saved lives that wouldn't have been saved otherwise. I saw.”

Kara put her arm around James' waist and they walked toward the entrance. “Thank you.”

“Who's here.”

Kara lowered her glasses for a moment and took a look. “Everyone except Cat and Eve.”

“Who's Eve?”

“Eve Teschmacher. The personal assistant I hired for Cat to replace me.”

James looked to discover that it was 2am. “Will she come in? I think I'll need her.”

“I think so. I'll call her. What's this about me working for you?”

The lobby of the building was empty. James decided to go ahead and fill Kara in now because there would be bits of information that he would have to hold back once he got upstairs. “Cat had to put all of her assets into a blind trust and she made me the Trustee of it.”

“Why?”

“To make it simple, Cat Grant is currently the 'de facto' President. For a few months at least.”

James told her how the actual President, someone he had never heard of, stood by like a scared child while Cat recited all of the things _she_ needed to do.

“Cat's the 'Chief of Staff', but I think she's going to be doing much more than that. And I don't think she wants people knowing it. While I was out there she had me take some pictures to try to bolster the President's image. 'An introduction' she called it.”

“You sound,” Kara said, “concerned.”

“We're journalists. We have a responsibility to the truth.”

“What are you hiding?”

James stood silently and considered the question. But Kara started talking again before he completed his thought.

“Is this person in the line of succession?”

“Yes.”

“Do you trust Cat?”

“Yes.”

“You've already decided to help them. We're standing here having a conversation because you've been given a new responsibility and have a small amount of uncertainty that you're going to work past.”

James looked at Kara as she spoke to him.

“This woman has also had a hell of a responsibility put on her shoulders. She's the one who has to deal with it, one way or another. Right now she has as her chief advisor, someone you trust. They want to put their best foot forward. I think they deserve a chance to surprise us. I think you think that too.”

James felt the bag with his gear swing at his side and the weight of the document that Cat gave him in his hand.

“I think you're going to surprise everyone too. Both with that,” she said as she gestured at his bag, “and with this.” She took the document out of his hand. “Cat thought so and I think so.”

James watched as Kara looked to make sure no one saw her and then read through the document at super-speed. The only thing he truly envied Kara and Clark for was their ability to consume huge amounts of information rapidly.

“Wow,” Kara said, “This is a big deal.”

They entered the elevator. “Cat knows better than to deal with the Luthors. I don't know what she was thinking.” Just the thought of the Luthors filled him with a certain, hard to define dread and gave him a headache. The elevator began to ascend. _As soon as I get off this elevator everything is going to change. I'm going to be the boss._

“It looks like Cat, well now you, have full control of the company. The person running LexCorp, Lena Luthor, just stands to make a lot of money.”

“Trust me Kara. With the Luthors, nothing is ever as it seems. It's always schemes within schemes.” Kara had never had to deal with the Luthor family. If it was going to be up to James, she never would.

“Have you ever met Lena Luthor? Who is she?”

“She's a rumored half sister of Lex.” He bit the inside of his lip and many possibilities rushed into his head. “But I'm not even sure if she's been seen. She could actually be anyone.”

“You're starting to sound a little paranoid James.”

“It's warranted.” With a ding, the elevator reached the desired floor. “Here we go.” James exited the elevator and made his way toward Cat's, now his, office. Several of the department heads, who had been missing for the past few days, were gathered outside of the office. Seeing this, other employees began to gather, sensing that James was about to share important information. Some of them wondered aloud where Cat was. Kara had disappeared, hopefully to find this Miss Teschmacher that she had mentioned.

James told the assembled crowd that he was now the Trustee of all of Cat Grant's assets and Chairman of CatCo. He explained that Cat had been asked to take a position at the White House as an advisor. He withheld both her official title, as he thought that she wanted him to, and his own speculation as to what she was actually going to be doing.

He told them that he had gotten exclusive pictures of the new President and that they were going to be released across all of CatCo's media platforms at the same time. In addition, there had been a transaction that made CatCo much larger than it had been, so they would need to be patient with some inevitable growing pains. The assembled employees seemed to understand the situation. Many expressed excitement. Some were visibly nervous. For now they went back to their tasks covering the huge story that they were in the midst of.

James saw one of the company department heads and motioned for him. After confirming that the person was in the meeting with Cat and Lena Luthor he told him to wait Then he called Winn over to him. After getting a congratulations from him, James told Winn that he needed to get on a Zoom call with the Newspaper editors, then the Television affiliates, and then the Radio and Streaming general managers. He pointed out the section of the document that listed all of CatCo's new assets for Winn and he left to set everything up.

While Winn got to work on that, he needed to find the best photographs from the many that he had taken. He asked the department head to follow him to his Art Director's office. While he loaded all of the data into his computer, he asked for a description of everything that the individual had seen during the meetings.

He began to scan through the pictures. While he did so, he listened to the gentleman describe a straightforward series of meetings. It sounded as if the company leaders had been in agreement on the broad strokes of the deal. That indicated that Cat had probably been working on this for quite a while. _How was she able to keep something like this a secret?_

“What did you know about this?” James asked.

“I didn't know anything until Cat told me to come out to Colorado.”

_Why didn't Cat say anything to me? Did she know I'd be against it? She has experience with the Luthors. What else is going on with this?_

“How much control or input is allowed for LexCorp is this deal?” He asked, already knowing the answer that was committed to paper. He was given an answer that corroborated it

Cat controlled CatCo via the now Class A stock. Lena Luthor held all of the Class B stock. She had practically given all of LexCorp's media assets to CatCo. Lena was only required to hold her stock until the restructuring was complete. Then she could sell for what was supposed to be massive amounts of money. It sounded too good to be true. Perfectly calculated.

_When something is too good to be true it usually isn't._

James, at this point, had located two great shots. He wanted five to distribute. “What do you think about all of this?”

“It looks great. The breadth of the new company is amazing. You're really underselling it to the staff. I guess you have your reasons.”

_I do._ James let the department head go back to his duties and finished finding the photos that he wanted. Sometimes James was amazed by how much can be added to a person's image when they are photographed in the right way. Looking at these, a person would never guess that the person shown was in the grip of such fear that someone else had to do their talking for them. This person looked capable and confident. James had made her look like a President.

He prepared a compressed file with the photos and had them ready to be sent off. Kara then entered his office with another woman scurrying behind her.

“James, here is Miss Eve Teschmacher,” Kara said while gesturing toward her.

She was a few inches shorter than Kara. She was wearing an off white colored dress with a floral pattern and a grey sweater. Her hair was a buttery blonde shade. She seemed to be a little nervous to meet him. James wondered if it was because she was hired to be someone else's assistant and was unsure of how this was now going to go.

Kara gently pushed her forward. Eve took the hint and extended her right hand to shake his. “Pleased to meet you Mr. Olsen.”

James took her hand, noticing she was wearing a ring with a garish ruby red gem that seemed to be too large for her, and shook it. “Same Miss Teschmacher. I hope you're ready for this because I need the help immediately.”

“What's first?”

_She seems perky enough at least._ “I need you to coordinate with Winn Schott. He's putting together a series of meetings with editors and managers across the company. I need him to make sure they are set up to receive a file I'm going to send after I meet with them. Also I need to get all of the politics editors in. I'll meet with them in the other office.”

“I'll help you round them up,” Kara said.

Realizing he had completed the task he went into his Art Director's office to do, he stood up and headed toward the door. Kara and Eve followed behind waiting for him to provide some more info. As exited the office he wondered if he would have need to come back. He resisted the urge to turn and take a look, knowing that he had a lot he needed to get done if he was going to provide information to all of the affiliates and departments before they put out their morning editions and broadcasts.

“Have you ever worked for a company that was involved in a large acquisition or merger?” James asked.

“I was a assistant for the director of a company that was bought by Berkshire Hathaway.”

_I can't ask for more than that. Probably lucky that Kara hired her._

“I need you to set up a meeting with the CatCo company officers. Probably after lunch time.”

“Do you want anyone from the LexCorp companies included with that?” Kara asked.

“No, I do not.”

They arrived at Cat's office. Her computer and monitors were better suited to a Zoom meeting.

Kara continued, “The way the agreement was set up is going to give the impression that some of them might be promoted.”

_LexCorp employees? In the CatCo upper echelon?_ He felt his heart beating hard. “There aren't going to be any promotions anytime soon. I need to take a good look at everything first.” Then he remembered an inconvenient detail. “Dammit, isn't Doug supposed to be retiring?”

Kara nodded.

“Who's Doug?” Eve asked.

“He's the VP of Finance.” James realized that he needed to have that position filled and Doug had no intention of hanging around any longer than he had to. “Eve, I need you to put together a list of candidates for a Chief Financial Officer. It needs to be someone with experience with multinational conglomerates and forensic accounting.” The three of them went inside the office and closed the door. “It needs to be someone who can move to National City immediately.”

“You could promote one of his assistants,” Kara said.

_It would be easier, but who on his team knew about this deal? Did they raise any objections? Would they have? Did they know what trouble might be coming our way?_ “I want someone outside of the company in that position.”

Eve exited to get to work on her assigned tasks. Kara lingered.

“Are you sure you're OK James?”

_Just trying to stay calm._ “I'm fine.” He went over to Cat's desk and sat in her chair. It was uncomfortable and he tried to adjust it. The chair was simply smaller than he liked. _Maybe I'll get a chair like Perry's. He seemed to be comfortable in his chair._ He realized that he wasn't going to be able to eat a proper breakfast today or get a workout in.

Kara continued to linger nearby. There was probably something else she could be handling but he felt more comfortable with her around so he didn't say anything. The Politics editors began to file into the office. When they were assembled he told them who the new President was and that they needed to put some background information together on her; information on her personal life and what her positions on various issues might be.

None of them knew much about her, so they left to begin their research.

Winn let him know that everything was ready for the Zoom meetings. They went well. Everyone involved was polite and congratulatory if his announcement of being in charge. They were also pleased at the photographs they received. There were several complements given that made note of how “in command” the President looked.

Kara had been quietly studying him as he worked but eventually Supergirl was needed, so off she went.

After the meetings, James contacted the General Manager at WLEX, the television station that CatCo now owned in Metropolis.

“Congratulations Mr. Olsen,” he spoke in greeting, “what can I do for you”  
“You need to change the call letters.”

There was a pause. “Sure I can get that started, but it might take time.”

“I don't care what you need to do. I want those call letters changed.”

“OK.”

James concluded the call and noticed that his hands were shaking. He wasn't sure what was affecting him but the thought of a part of CatCo being named after Lex Luthor was something he couldn't tolerate.

Watching the monitors, James turned his attention from station to station and watched as the reporting that included his photographs was rolled out. It was going well. It felt good to be able to provide an exclusive story on the first day of work.

Eve approached his office door and James waived her inside. “Mr. Olsen, I was just speaking with Lena Luthor's personal assistant. She wants to congratulate you on your new position and set up a joint press conference sometime after the situation with the government is more settled.”

“Did you say 'joint press conference?'”

“Yes. She wants to coordinate schedules and set up a lunch to talk about presenting the CatCo restructuring and her National City business ventures. She's staying at the Baldwin.”

“Lena Luthor is _in town_?”

“Yes.”

“What business ventures is she referring to?”

Eve took a moment to look over her notes. “She bought the Harbor Green building.”

The Harbor Green building was a thirty story building in National City's downtown district that was equipped to handle research and development operations. Maxwell Lord had been wanting to purchase it. _Sounds like he got out bid._

“She bought some land on the waterfront,” Eve continued, “that's going to be used for a new women's soccer stadium.”

“Wait. The women's soccer team that's coming. That's her?”

“Sounds like it. But it's supposed to be an entire sports complex. Softball field too since she bought a professional softball league.”

“An entire league?”

“And a hospital downtown too.”

James could feel his heart start pounding in his chest. _Why is she here? Why is Luthor buying up so much in National City?_ “Communicate that I'm not ready to make any public statements about CatCo yet.” _What is_ this _Luthor up to?_

There was something in him that wanted him to say no. It was screaming at him to avoid contact with Luthor. But he decided that he had no choice but to take a look and see what type of person he was dealing with. “Push it out three or four days, but set up the lunch.”


	9. Alex Danvers

**Alex Danvers**

Alex realized that setting up this unit was going to be harder than she imagined.

She wanted to select ten officers from across the National City Police Department to get things started. She knew she would need more eventually but that was the first unexpected challenge. Many of the NCPD's officers were, to put it politely, on the wrong side of their physical fitness requirements. Watching some of them run one mile made Alex appreciate the strict fitness regimen that J'onn had established at the DEO.

Alex also expected to find a higher education level among the officers. She thought she would find at least several people with an education level similar to her own, but she discovered that she was now the most educated person working with the NCPD. She knew that the plurality of many police departments did not have bachelor's degrees, but, to her, many of the NCPD officers she encountered didn't seem very bright.

At the DEO, all of the agents were well educated in various fields such as biological sciences, computer engineering, accounting, psychology. Alex had studied medicine, genetics, and xenobiology. Officers with similar credentials were not as numerous as she expected in the NCPD.

She knew that Chief Nisliet was upset about her insisting that she report directly to the Mayor. He had affirmed that Alex had made the right decision by becoming an obstacle to her attempts to assemble a unit. He was insistent on slowing down her requests for personnel files and disciplinary records. She couldn't quite put a finger on his issues but suspected that when this project was originally conceived, it was going to be under his control and Alex had ruined that for him. He seemed to be very friendly with Maxwell Lord. Maybe he wanted to curry some sort of favor with him. Maybe he was just an idiot.

Maxwell Lord was another issue. He seemed to be at the Mayor's office a lot. Even more since Lena Luthor had purchased a building in downtown National City that he had been interested in. Maxwell wanted the Mayor to “do something about it”. Alex didn't know what the Mayor was going to do. She thought Maxwell should accept that Lena Luthor beat his price and get over it.

Alex had been given a small building for her unit to work out of once it was established. It was a precinct office that the NCPD had vacated but the city had been unable to sell. She thought it had a lot of potential. There was a large amount of space and she thought she could set up a medical wing that could deal with any injuries that Kara might suffer so she wouldn't need to go into a hospital.

She had already set up an office there. Sure enough, Maxwell Lord stopped by almost immediately afterward. She couldn't tell but thought that he had been trying to flirt with her. _No thanks._ Looking at him didn't spark anything romantic. She found him to be stubborn, a bit whiny, and he had switched to a cologne that she found uncomfortable. But, as part of equipping her unit, he wanted to equip the building as well. Alex was still considering how involved she was going to allow him to be.

***

Alex arrived at the City Administration Building and was shown into the Mayor's office by an intern. The office had wood paneled walls with a slick finish. Mayor Henderson sat at an sturdy oak desk with a seal for National City carved into the front of it. Behind the Mayor were three flags, a United States flag, a State of California flag, and a National City flag. Between two of the flags and directly behind the Mayor's head was an ugly drawing of a tree. To the right of the Mayor was a bookcase with various certificates within it.

Besides the Mayor, there were three people waiting in the office. Chief Nisliet sat in one of the two chairs that faced the Mayor's desk. He tried, unsuccessfully, to conceal his dour face. Maxwell Lord stood in a corner of the room and flashed her a smile. Alex disregarded it and turned her attention to the person sitting in the other chair facing the Mayor.

“Alex,” the Mayor said, “Glad to see you again.” He gestured toward the unknown woman in the chair. “This is Maggie Sawyer. She's going to serve as my special assistant on this project, like we discussed.”

The woman stood, walked around the chair, and extended her hand. Alex watched her mouth move and felt unexpectedly shaken by her physical presence.

Maggie was about three inches shorter than her, so Alex found herself staring downward into her light brown eyes. She had a slim figure and wore a pair of tight fitting, black jeans, a tailored black blazer, and a green shirt. Her black hair was parted in the middle of her head and hung in effortless waves, tucked behind her ears, and down to the top of her chest. She had applied a natural colored lip gloss and possessed the cutest dimples that Alex had ever seen.

Alex watched her head tilt to the right and remembered that Maggie was introducing herself to her. She concentrated and recalled that Maggie had said, “Alex Danvers right? I'm excited about working with you.”

“Right, yes, Alex Danvers,” she managed to say, “that's me. Pleased to meet you.”

Maggie laughed and continued displaying her dimples for Alex. “Would you like to sit?” Maggie asked, offering Alex the chair that she had been in.

“Oh no. I'm fine.”

Maggie turned to move back to the chair and Alex stole a glance at her stomach. Her jeans and shirt fit in such a way that Alex could tell that her stomach was flat and defined. A wave of warmth crossed her body. For the briefest of moments, Alex felt an urge to lick Maggie's stomach.

_Whoa, get a hold of it Danvers._

Mayor Henderson's voice brought her to attention. “How is your progress in forming the unit?”

Alex decided to be blunt. “Not going as well as I would like. The officers I've looked at are lacking in various qualities. It's going to take longer than we discussed to put this together.”

“That's not good Alex,” Maxwell Lord chimed in. “Is there anything that can be done to speed things up?”

“I don't think so Max. If we want this done right, we need the right people.”

“You've been picking through my entire police department,” Chief Nisliet said. “You're saying you haven't found one person that's capable enough for your _unit_?”

“I wouldn't say that in public, but no I haven't.”

“Mr Mayor,” Maxwell said, “maybe we should consider bringing in private military until Alex puts the unit together to her liking.”

The Mayor's Chief of Staff entered the office.

“That's exactly what you don't want to do Mr. Mayor,” Alex said.

Maria walked toward the Mayor's desk and Alex noticed that Maggie looked at her legs as she rounded the desk and stood to the left of the Mayor near one of the flags.

“Is Maxwell asking for private military again?” Maria asked.

The Mayor nodded and said, “Too expensive.”

Maria looked down at the legal pad that Alex had begun to wonder if she just left it attached to her arm. “Much too expensive.”

Alex noticed that Maggie had a copy of the proposal that she had written up for the project and while everyone was talking she was reviewing bookmarked sections of it.

“I think you're too concerned about your approval rating,” Maxwell said.

“That's my job,” Maria said, “and anything that would bring it down ten points is a bad idea.”

Alex didn't care about the Mayor's approval rating, but did think that having a military unit running around National City on a regular basis was a horrible idea. She was about to say so when Maggie spoke.

“I've got some ideas that I think will help get things moving on this. Let me discuss them with Alex and make contact with you tomorrow.”

“That sounds,” the Mayor looked up at his Chief of Staff who nodded slightly. The Mayor then continued, “that sounds good. Maria, once Maggie checks in, schedule another meeting for all of us.”

The Mayor stood and made sure he thanked every one and shook all of their hands. After he shook Chief Nisliet's hand the Police Chief tossed Alex a look and left the office first. Alex saw that Maggie was standing to her right and she motioned for Alex to bend toward her.

“That man does not like you,” Maggie said in a low voice in her ear.

“He'd be better off using the energy to get his officers to run an extra mile.”

Alex could tell that Maggie was holding back a smile.

Maxwell walked over and introduced himself to Maggie. She shook his hand politely and tried to move away but Maxwell remained in her personal space. “I'm glad we're getting some extra help on this project,” he told her.

“Happy to be involved.” Maggie again tried to move around him.

“What did you think of my idea?”

“I think a military unit is not the same as a police unit and it's dangerous to confuse the two.” Maggie looked him up and down. “You own a lot of property in National City don't you?”

“I have varied interests.”

“Wouldn't you be concerned about military ordinance being fired off near your 'interests'? Not to mention the civilian risk?”

“It's not any more dangerous than having metahumans and aliens fighting in the streets.”

“I don't know about that. Most metahuman fights seem to be confined to those fighting. Civilians can usually clear the area safely. And I think that Supergirl in particular has prevented far more property damage than she has caused.” Maggie turned toward Alex. “Didn't she prevent his maglev train from being destroyed and stop a plane from crashing?”

Considering Alex was on the plane that Maggie was talking about, she remembered it well. The incident with Maxwell's train was another matter altogether and Maggie bringing it up was a reminder for Alex that Maxwell Lord's motives when he became involved in something weren't always clear.

From the look on Maxwell's face, Alex thought that he was reminded of that too. “That is true,” he said. “If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to.” He then quickly left the office.

“I'm getting hungry,” Maggie said to Alex. “Do you want to get my thoughts over an early dinner?”

“Sure.”

“This is my first day in town. Do you know of a place? Preferably a restaurant with a bar.”

Alex both liked Maggie's straightforwardness and was slightly taken aback by her openness to knocking back a few. “Isn't it a bit early?”

“I don't drink when I work. But _after_ we're done working, I intend to have a drink.”

At that moment, Alex felt a bit of shame of having neglected her social life. She hadn't had cause to seek out the type of establishment that Maggie was referring to. After a moment of thinking, she remembered someone at the DEO mentioning a place they had a good time at one evening, although he had been more interested in talking about the waitress than anything else.

She looked up the place on her phone and thought it was what the situation was calling for. She exchanged numbers with Maggie and sent her the location.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Alex took a look inside. It appeared rowdier than she expected. It clearly was meant to be a bar and serving food was a secondary function. There was a large service bar in the center of the room. It looked to have maybe sixty seats and was tended by six bartenders. Ten small tables surrounded the service bar. Ten booths lined the walls around the establishment. Alex noticed the small door that led to what must have been the kitchen, but the design of the place was meant to draw the eye to the service bar at the center. It looked newly built and had what Alex would judge to be a modern design.

_This is place where you get drunk off your ass and leave a large tip._

For a moment, Alex thought back to a time when she spent quite a bit of time in such places, although never one this well designed.

An odd sounding exhaust profile caused Alex to turn her attention from looking inside the bar to the street. Maggie was pulling up riding a motorcycle that appeared much larger and wilder than her slim frame would appear to be comfortable with.

Alex noted to herself that she recognized Maggie even thought she was wearing a full helmet and a different jacket than she had at the Mayor's office. That she found Maggie's body so distinctive gave her a sensation that she couldn't quite place.

The motorcycle had 'Moto Guzzi' on it's side in shiny, silver lettering; a company that Alex had never heard of. Maggie rode with her legs spread wide to avoid the protruding hot cylinder heads that looked to Alex like an odd design choice. Maggie parked and swung her leg wide to get off of the bike, again giving Alex the impression that it was a bit large for her. She walked over to greet Maggie while she removed her helmet.

Alex wanted to speak but remained distracted by the odd match of Maggie and the motorcycle. She looked back and forth between them a few times before Maggie asked, “you like?”

She crouched down to take a better look at the vehicle. After a moment she noticed her head was next to Maggie's stomach and she couldn't help but take a look before forcing her gaze back to the motorcycle. “Yes,” she finally answered.

“I didn't take you for a biker.”

“I'm not. But I've never seen a motorcycle like this. It even sounds different.”

“It's made by an Italian company. I picked it up used and restored it. You know this is almost fifty years old.”

“Really?” To Alex's eye, it had the look of an older build but it was so well maintained that, if asked, she would have thought it was brand new with a 'classic' design.

Maggie gently ran her hand across the seat. “I wasn't a biker either until I saw this. It was, I guess the best way to put it, gratifying to restore it piece by piece. Sort of like I was giving it exactly what it needed.”

Alex didn't quite relate, but she nodded anyway

“It turns out that I'm a better mechanic than I thought I would be.”

“You said today was your first day in town. Did you ride this here?”

“Yeah. Got in early this morning.”

“From where?”

“Metropolis.”

_Wow, she must_ love _to ride_

Maggie tugged on her arm. “C'mon, lets eat and I'll tell you what I'm thinking.”

Alex, liking the feel of Maggie's fingertips, allowed herself to be dragged for a moment. Then she simply followed Maggie to the door. When they entered, Maggie took a long look at the bar then around the rest of the room. She then smiled and gave a nod of satisfaction.

“I like this place Danvers.”

Alex smiled at her and again felt a sting from a lack of a social life. She found herself wishing she had actually been here before.

They took a booth and each had a burger. Maggie seemed to enjoy hers, but Alex thought hers was a bit dry. After having a few bites she laughed, realizing the taste of the burger made her want to have a drink.

“That good?”

“No,” Alex answered, “not at all.”

Maggie chuckled and then started looking over Alex's proposal again. “I think you have high standards.”

“This is too important not to isn't it?”

“Yes, but it's one of the reasons why you are having trouble with staffing. You want people with the qualifications of FBI agents, but you can only pay municipal police officer salaries.”

“The standards are what they need to be.”

“The state of the police force isn't doing you any favors either. You're caught with a pool of older officers when the city is growing. I think it's either be more... forgiving with the standards or be creative with your budget and recruiting.”

“How would I do that?”

Maggie took a drink of water. “Let's start with the number of people. You want up to thirty. What if I told you that you could only have eighteen?”

They talked and in bouncing ideas and concerns around, arrived at a structure where Alex would begin with a smaller unit so it could go into service faster and then building it larger at a slower pace.

Alex had wanted the unit to work in shifts directly out of the headquarters she obtained, but Maggie advised her to have the unit assemble when needed. This would be similar to a SWAT team. Alex had also wanted three full time social workers on staff. Maggie suggested one, with two college students assisting, who could perhaps earn credits. With fewer people, Alex could offer higher salaries.

“Is the budget on this a concern with the Mayor?”

Maggie smiled and nodded. “Yep.”

“They seemed ready to throw money around when I originally discussed this with them. Why is it an issue now?”

“Number one, welcome to municipal government. Number two, I think they really wanted you badly. You were the only person they were going to find who could do this.”

“What did you do in Metropolis?”

Maggie swallowed another bite of her burger. “I was a police detective.”

“What brings you all the way out here?”

“I want your job.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not _this_ job in _this_ city. These types of units are going to be a thing all over the country. Helping you with this puts me at the top of the list when another city sets one up. Then it might fast-track me into a Police Commissioner or Chief position.”

Ambitious. Alex decided that ambition looked good on Maggie. The motorcycle, the dimples, the drive, the stomach were all captivating. Alex even liked the sound of her voice.

“Do you think Nisliet is going to retire soon?” Alex asked, thinking of how Maggie would fit as National City's Police Chief.

“I doubt it. But the location doesn't matter much. I figure I help you get this job done, then move on to your position in another city, then grab the next spot.”

An unfamiliar kind of confusion swept over Alex. “Do you like National City?”

“It's OK, but I never really thought of myself as a southern California girl to be honest. I bet I'm one of the few people you've met that likes snow as much as sun.”

Alex was disappointed that she had limited appreciation for the city, but she felt it with a strength that surprised her.

“The Mayor told me you worked for the DEO. What was that like? Was it really run by a Martian?”

Alex gave her an edited version of both what it was like to work with J'onn and the night Jemm tried to escape. She didn't know why she became reluctant to share information with Maggie.

“Sounds like we need to make sure that those weapons from Maxwell Lord work like they should before we take them into the field.”

“We?” Alex didn't know until now that Maggie was going to go into the field with her.

“Yeah. I don't intend to sit behind a desk. I'll help however I can to make this work. It'll be good for you and good for me. Getting that experience.”

Alex watched Maggie's eyes bulge at the sight of a waitress' backside as she walked by the table. She couldn't help but take a look for herself.

When she turned back to Maggie, she asked, “Did you ask any of your former DEO coworkers if they were interested in joining up?”

“I hadn't, but now that the salary is different it _is_ worth asking.”

“Great. Sounds like I can let the Mayor know we are making some progress.”

Alex watched her as she chomped down the last of her food. _That burger doesn't deserve to be eaten by that mouth._

“It's OK to call you if I have other thoughts right?”

“Sure.” Alex felt her skin tingle at the thought of Maggie giving her a phone call.

“I'm going to go get that drink I was talking about. Finish that burger and come join me.”

Maggie got up and headed to the bar, leaving Alex to think about the series of emotions that were rushing through her. She finished her food and took a look over at the bar. Maggie had blended in as if she were a regular. _I could go sit by her, have a drink, it would be OK._ But her body wouldn't move and she felt her heart beat faster.

_This is too much. I need to get out of here._ She sent Maggie a text letting her know that she would catch up to her tomorrow and quickly made her way outside. She took a lung full of the early evening air, looked over at Maggie's motorcycle, and summoned an Uber.


	10. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song mentioned in the chapter is titled "Romantic" by Goapele

**Supergirl – Kara Danvers**

It had taken a few days, but Kara had managed to re-train Eve to work with James and, with Eve and Winn's help, reconfigured Cat's office into something that James would feel more comfortable in.

It was a project that would have gone faster and more efficiently if she had done it herself, but it was one of the drawbacks of maintaining a dual identity. She couldn't show off her speed or technical ability in the presence of CatCo employees. In addition, she had to be careful about appearing in the office as Supergirl. A few appearances would be an indicator that James had a good relationship with his best friend's cousin. Too many appearances could arouse any number of suspicions. For now, it seemed she had found the right balance.

James insisted that all of the changes had to be done so that they could be reversed in twenty four hours. She knew he had doubts, but he was continuing to operate as if Cat would return in six months or so. Still, it was a factor in the changes that James was looking for and the ones that Kara added.

First, the bank of monitors that were mounted on the wall behind the desk were removed. Winn set up a few areas around the office floor where different stations, both within and outside of the CatCo portfolio, could be monitored. James liked the idea of having extra monitors rise from within the front edge of the desk if he wanted to check in on stations or teleconference. He would also be able to look in on radio, podcasting, and other streaming content as it was being prepared in studio. Kara suggested a larger, sturdier desk than Cat used.

Next, James had been fixated on the office chair. He wanted one just like Perry White's from the Daily Planet. Kara took one look at the catalog and knew that it wouldn't do for activities that she had in mind. She persuaded him to select a chair without arms on it.

James wanted to change the couches in the office. Kara thought it would be a bit rude not to change them. Together they picked out a set that seemed more suited to an office for James and that Kara thought would be comfortable for whoever might sit on them. And she insisted on switchable privacy glass for the office.

The last addition to the office was being prepared at the fortress. Kara was anxious to see how James would receive it, once it was ready.

During those days, Kara watched as James grew increasingly agitated about his upcoming meeting with Lena Luthor. At one point, his heart-rate and body language suggested that he was physically ill. There were times that his facial expression went blank when she was mentioned. He performed his job functions well, but something was off and Kara begun to worry about him.

She wanted to be nearby when he met Ms. Luthor, but an incident north of National City kept her away.

She had been flying over the coastal town of Santa Monica just by happenstance. She wanted to take a look at some of the shopping districts, then maybe come back as Kara Danvers on a weekend. As she approached, she saw a car turn toward one of the storefronts. It was luck that she was close enough to land in front of the car. She was able to catch it softly enough to keep from wrecking it, slowing it with just enough room for her body between the car and a storefront window. But it did set off the car's airbag.

When she went to check on the driver she appeared to be having a seizure. Kara removed her from the car and flew her to the closest hospital she could find. Then she went to retrieve the woman's car.

It was only then that she noticed the child sitting in the cafe. A little girl in oddly fitting clothing; Asian, possibly eight years old. She was sitting on a stool at the counter, eating. A few adults were gathered around her trying their best to comfort her while she was crying.

Kara entered the cafe and asked if everything was OK. A waitress told her that the child had wandered in off the street. No one could understand what she was saying but they gave her food and called Child Services. Someone was on the way.

She sat next to the girl and greeted her. The little girl seemed excited to see her and pointed to her family crest she wore. The only English word the girl knew was 'Supergirl'.

Kara had just started familiarizing herself with Asian languages. The girl's words sounded Austroasiatic. Kara guessed Vietnamese and thought she recognized the sounds for 'help', 'mother', and 'truck.

Then a police officer and a social worker arrived. The social worker was able to speak with the girl, who was, in fact, Vietnamese. The little girl said she and her mother got on a boat for a long time, then were put in a truck. The mother grabbed her and said they needed to run. They jumped out of the back of the truck, but men dragged her mother back in and didn't see her. The girl had wandered all night and made her way there.

The officer and the social worker thought it might be a human trafficking ring. They promise a group of people jobs in the United States. Bring them over and lock them in a basement. Maybe they sell a few of them to 'interested buyers'. Maybe use them for cheap labor.

They got lucky in that the little girl was able to remember a partial license plate from the truck. It was for a commercial vehicle used by a handmade furniture company. A search warrant was obtained quickly and Kara accompanied a group of officers to the site.

Kara could see that the furniture shop was innocent looking but it had several floors underground. Hidden away from the sunshine of one of California's most well off towns, was a sweatshop. One level had nothing but cots. It looked like seventy people were crammed into it. There was one bathroom. Another level was the assembly line. These people were being forced to make knockoffs of designer clothes.

There were guards that had been hired. They appeared to be a local gang and decided to surrender at the sight of Supergirl. The owner of the business happened to be an assistant football coach at the local high school. He lawyered up as soon as he was located and arrested.

The healthier looking people were surely part of the batch that the little girl escaped from. Others looked malnourished, worn down, and they were pale from lack of sunlight. They were led up into the parking lot that quickly became packed. Kara was able to persuade the owner of a motel that was across the street to open some of the unused rooms to allow the people to use bathrooms.

The little girl was reunited with her mother and Kara spent the rest of that evening getting food for the victims and helping those who needed it get medical attention.

When she returned to National City, it was just after 11pm. She wanted to know how the meeting went and expected to discuss it when she got to her apartment. But James wasn't there.

He wasn't at the restaurant that the meeting was supposedly at. He wasn't at his place. She thought he might be at the office, but she didn't expect to find him in the state he was in.

As she approached the building, she saw him sitting at his desk, the only light illuminating the office was from the moon, the monitor in front of his face, and the main office. She gently landed on the balcony, entered the unlocked door, and turned on the privacy glass before anyone caught sight of her.

“James?”

He sat staring blankly ahead, seeming to be in a state of shock or paralysis.

_Did someone die?_ “James?” she asked. “Are you OK?”

James seemed to become aware that Kara was in the room and looked up at her. “Kara. Yes. Yes, I'm fine.”

Kara, unconvinced, asked, “How long have you been sitting here?”

James looked around the room, then at his phone. Blinking he answered, “A few hours.”

“Since your meeting with Ms. Luthor?”

“Yeah. Yes.” He stood up and moved his head around, stretching his neck.

Kara thought about turning on the light in the office, but didn't. He wandered around to the front of the desk, then over to the couch to his left and sat on the right portion of it. For a moment he appeared lost in thought. She heard his heart beat faster.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

“What? Yes, I'm fine.”

“Nothing out of the ordinary?”

_There were Vietnamese refugees being used as slave labor in a sweat shop? I don't think that's ordinary._ But Kara didn't think he was asking about anything like that. _I wasn't in any personal danger._ “No,” she answered. It must have been the best response because his heart relaxed.

She walked over and stood in front of him. Normally, he would take in her presence, look over her body in a way she had come to enjoy. But not now. Now he simply looked into her eyes, searching for something. She touched his face. He was always warm, but now he was, not feverish, simply warmer. “What happened at your meeting?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Kara had difficulty accepting that. _Something must have happened._

“I don't know what she's going to do.”

“What did you talk about at your meeting?”

James waved his left hand dismissively. “She showed me some business plans.”

“That's not what she's going to do?” Kara asked, feeling a bit confused.

“I don't know what she's going to do.”

Kara sat beside him to his left, knowing he was going to say something else. She waited.

James looked at her. “Did Cat ever tell you the first thing she did when she put this company together?”

Kara shook her head and wondered why he was bringing it up.

“She called Perry White and bragged about it. She started that magazine that I don't think Perry would read if you put a gun to his head. They... I don't know what they said, but everybody was proud of her.”

Kara waited.

“Six months later, she had a radio station no one listened to and a UHF station with faulty equipment. Eventually she built all of this.” He went silent and stared silently forward.

“I think you're tired. You've been working hard. Everything is going good,” Kara said. She stood and extended her right hand to him. “The workday is over. Come with me.”

During the flight to her apartment, her thoughts of the day's events and concern about James' state of mind seemed to flow out of her; replaced by a now familiar and welcome anticipation. Upon entering her apartment however, the usual frenzy in which they would disrobe was replaced by something more subdued. James wandered over to the Bluetooth receiver and used his phone to turn on some music.

Kara allowed her hand to lightly glide across his back as she walked behind him. He shivered ever so slightly and this response to her touch caused her to smile. She began to remove her costume as a soulful, bluesy music filled the room; a rubbery bass, accompanied by what sounded like an organ and a sparse drum and cymbal. She stripped down to her panties and stood barefoot by her bed. The sound of him behind her removing his own clothes and the feel of his gaze on her back increased her anticipation.

First she felt his fingertips on her shoulders, then his manhood rose up her back as he pressed into her and wrapped her in his arms. Kara closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his embrace. The singer's deep soothing voice seemed to resonate in her ears, even though she sounded much younger than she expected.

James spun her around and looked down into her eyes. The voice sang,

_Kiss my wounds_

_Love me tender_

_Buy me flowers I've never seen_

_Wake me up from my dreams_

His mouth fell upon hers and she received his kiss. He guided her into her sheets, more forcefully than usual, and laid on top of her. His mouth insistent on hers, then her neck, then her breasts. There was a need within him, Kara sensed. A need for lovemaking, and maybe something more. She responded by forcing her breasts to his mouth and writhing against him. _I'm here,_ she thought, _come get it._ He skinned her panties down her legs and off her body. Hurriedly, he put on a condom and began to slowly push inside her. Their eyes connected and, inch by inch, he sank deeper into her body.

_When I look in your eyes_

_Unconditional sweetness uncompromised_

Kara lightly bit the inside of her lip and fought her instinct to ride him, to dominate their lovemaking. She so loved to flip him onto his back and love him until, despite any resistance he provided to prolong their coupling, he had no choice but to cry out in pleasure or submit to her desires.

Only her sense that he needed something different tonight restrained that desire in her. There was something in the tension of his arms, the strength the he held onto her with as they made love. Tonight he needed to hold her, wrap her tight as he gave her love. She responded by holding onto him and then gliding her hands up and down his back as he moved more firmly.

“Yes, baby. Hold me tight,” she said, then pulled him into a kiss.

His embrace grew stronger and her skin tingled. She ended the kiss and pressed her head to his shoulder as pleasure slid through her and built within her. Moments later, she began to gasp loudly as waves of orgasmic bliss overtook her senses. “Ohhh. Ahhh. Yess. Ahhh.”

She relaxed in his arms and her hands fell from his back when her senses returned. But James' embrace remained tight as he continued to love her. Surprising her, he pulled her with him as rose onto his knees. Her arms wrapped around his back to hold on as he held her upright and looked into her eyes.

Kara moaned loud as James bounced her up and down his manhood, quickly pushing her toward another orgasm. He laid her back on the bed and their lovemaking continued while they again held each other tightly and devoured each others mouths in a wet kiss.

When Kara came again, she found James joining her in ecstasy “Yes James. Cum with me baby. Ohhh.”

Soon after, they slept. James remained on top of her, holding her in his arms.

Later in the night, she awoke, wondering, as she often did, how soon they could make love again. But tonight she found him already awake and wanting more of her. He moved upright between her legs and she shifted her body in response. Seeing his already hardened manhood, she retrieved a condom from the drawer and pressed it into his hand.

_Yeah, lets go._

The soft, bluesy tunes continued to play in the background as they began to make love for the second time tonight. Again, Kara felt James' arms wrap around her and hold her tightly. She moved her hands to his lower back and moved with him.

Their lovemaking went on, with James moving into her at what felt for Kara like a perfect pace. As another orgasm began to form within her, she felt her toes and fingertips flex. Her hands moved against her will to the sides of his head and she moaned with pleasure.

James began to move harder causing their bodies to clap as they joined. Kara pressed her chin downward trying to resist succumbing She wanted him to cum with her again but the choice was taken out of her hands. James kissed her forehead and then whispered into her ear. “Ohhh Kara. I love you. Ohhh, I love you.”

That sent her tumbling. Powerful pleasure flowed through her muscles as her orgasm crashed into her. She felt joy, pleasure, James sliding inside of her, and her heels rubbing against the bed. “Ohhh. I'm cumming,” she cried out, “You. Ohhh, You're making me cum. Yess.”

She made another attempt to make him cum with her, but the waves of orgasm claimed her again. She could only surrender and cry out, “Ohhh. Yess. Ohhh. James. Yess. Yess.” With each stroke, her body spasmed and shivered. “Ohhh. Ohhh. Ohhh. Yeah.”

Then she was spent. James remained inside her. They took a few moments to catch their breath and then James began to kiss her. She returned it and soon they were kissing wildly in each others arms.

She felt James begin to make love to her again and sparks spread through her body. “Yes baby,” she whispered. James moaned gently in response.

They kissed passionately again and continued to move against each other. Kara decided she was going to make him cum and began to move against him more urgently. James tried to slow their pace subtly and she felt his embrace tighten. She knew he was trying to extend their coupling, but Kara had made up her mind.

_No, you're going to cum,_ she thought. _I'm going to make you cum for me._

“Ohhh James,” she said, “don't let me go.”

He tightened his hug again. “I won't. I won't let go.”

She thrust herself upward and, as she knew would happen, he moved with her. Now she set the pace of their lovemaking. James gasped and then she spoke to him. “Yeah. Like that.” Kara looked up at his face and watched the pleasure she was giving him shift his expressions.

She moved at just the right pace to keep him on the edge, taking him into her over and over.

“That's what you like isn't it?”

"Yes," he answered between breaths, "yes."

She kept going. For several long, wonderful minutes Kara gave him her love. She basked in the sounds of gentle music, James breaths and gasps, her own horny grunts, and the light clap of their bodies joining.

Her hands found their way to his waist. She held him in place and thrust her hips into him harder.

"C'mon baby. C'mon."

James tried to stifle a moan

"Give me what I want. Give it."

Finally Kara claimed him. James' body shook and cried out as he burst. “Ohhh. Ahhh. Ohhh. Yeah.”

Kara kept loving him, kept thrusting herself upward to receive him. "Yess. Cum for me baby. Cum."

“Ahhh. Ahhh. Yess. Ohhh.”

She kept going. “Don't you let go. Hold on tight,” she told him, “Hold me tight and cum.” She felt the strength in his arms as his embrace tightened. Kara's passion made him convulse with pleasure, made him shout with joy again and again. "Just like that baby. Cum." She kept thrusting, kept making him moan until he was spent.

She took a few moments to gently kiss him while he laid bonelessly in her arms. His gentle sighs and deep breaths confirmed for her that she had satisfied his need. They got up to share a bottle of water and then returned to the bed. For a second they laid beside each other. She then pulled him to her and they held each other as they slept.

When she awoke in the morning, James had already left. She knew he wanted to get a workout in at the gym near CatCo before getting to the office. He had a meeting with the CatCo finance officers and reporters scheduled. If Kara hurried she could eavesdrop on it.

James had left her an egg white omelet After eating the bland omelet and three tasty, but slightly overcooked sausage, egg, and cheese Hot Pockets, she headed into the office.

First she went to the science desk. Oscar was there working quietly, just as he was when she met him.

“Kara Danvers. Good to see you. What can I do for you?”

“Well Oscar,” she paused to get more professional, “Mr Binder. I wanted to at least give this department a try. I'm almost done with my assistant duties. So I guess the question is, 'what can I do for you?'”

“Hmm. Let start with something small. The state science fair is in a few days. Why don't you check that out and write something up. It would appear in the next days paper. Small article, but enough to get your feet wet. Also I'd like someone to get some information on whatever Lena Luthor is doing with the Oncology department at the municipal hospital. So far there have just been wild rumors. If you get anything, bring your notes and we'll go over it together.”

Kara found she had plenty of time to look in on James' finance meeting.

Winn's desk was still placed near Cat's, currently James', office so she pulled up a chair near him and made herself comfortable. Smiling brightly, she said, “Hi Winn. How are you this morning?”

“Came to eavesdrop?”

“Why would you ask that?” Kara feigned innocence.

“No reason at all.” Winn slid a donut over to her. She nibbled on it while she waited for the meeting to start.

Present in the office with James were Aleeka Okafur and two men she didn't recognize. Ms. Okafur was the new hire as CFO. Aleeka had previously worked with Michael Holt at TerrificTech. She had chosen to move on due to what was described as a 'personal issue' but had gotten a glowing letter of recommendation and a phone call on her behalf from Mr. Holt. One of the other two was an editor of a Business and Finance publication for CatCo. The other was the broadcaster of a daily financial podcast that CatCo produced.

“So what do you have?” James asked Aleeka.

“Well,” she shrugged, “like I thought, LexCorp currently has all of it's money and additional money from financing tied up in the CatCo stock, the building and land it purchased, the sports teams, and the hospital.”

James stood silently in thought for a moment.

“I don't see how any of this is useful to you.” Aleeka looked at him, then turned to the two other men. They both seemed as confused as she was.

James looked nervous for a moment, then walked over and sat at his desk. He looked at the two men and said, “There's..... a rumor, that it might take a bit longer to review the companies acquired from LexCorp before those companies can be fully integrated into CatCo. It could take some time.”

Still confused, they looked at each other, then asked, “Where did this rumor come from?”

“You just heard it and I expect it to be reported on as you heard it. A rumor. But neither you or I know where it originated from.”

The two men stood silently for a moment.

“That's all for now. You can go.”

The men left the office but Aleeka stayed behind. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“What do you mean? Today I'm just leaking rumors.”

“Are you trying to stop the LexCorp transaction?”

“Nobody said that.”

Aleeka paced back and forth in front of James' desk and began, seemingly to Kara, thinking out loud. “If the companies acquired take longer to bring into CatCo, then there's no company, no IPO, for LexCorp to sell it's stock in. LexCorp won't be able to meet whatever financial obligations it has.”

James sat silently, but his heart rate and body temperature were increasing.

“Have you read this deal?” Aleeka asked. “CatCo has obligations. There's no going back. You'll get sued.”

Kara thought that James had been trying to be detached somehow and use some form of 'plausible deniability'. But that wasn't in his nature and he couldn't keep up the pretense. “Right now, “ he said, “right now, LexCorp doesn't have the resources for a legal fight.”

“LexCorp isn't the only party that could sue over this. People are expecting payouts. CatCo needs this cash flow too. There's financing on your end too. You'll bankrupt _both_ companies.”

James stood up. “When you worked at TerrificTech, did you ever have dealings with LexCorp?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me how Michael Holt found that experience.”

“It was not pleasant.”

“Superman, Metropolis, the Daily Planet dealt with Lex Luthor and LexCorp schemes for years. Years.”

“I've read about some of that.”

James put his hand fist down on the desk. “Seventy five percent of this crap was never written down. Never.” He took a moment to wipe sweat off his head.

Kara kept watching him from where she was. His body language seemed odd. She thought he might faint.

“Aleeka, just from what you know, if you had the chance to go backward and take away all of the resources Lex Luthor had to do the things he did, would you do it?”

“I,” She couldn't answer the question.

“And you don't know what you don't know.”

“But James, Lex Luthor is in jail. Someone else runs LexCorp. And what about all of these people? They have careers. They have families. What about them?”

“There's only one.” James stopped talking, noticing Kara sitting with Winn.

“Only one what?”

“I don't know what she's going to do. I don't know what I'm going to do. What I have right now is a rumor. I need to see if something happens. Something to let me know what I have to do.”

Aleeka watched him as he tried to calm himself and went back to working. She ended up walking out of the office.

Kara took a few moments to study James' fluctuating heartbeat and, having forgotten Winn was near, jumped when he spoke.

“So,” he asked, “we getting stock options or what?”

_Probably not._ “They weren't talking about that stuff.”

“So what's up?”

Kara wasn't sure about all of the ramifications of what was discussed. She was shocked that James had calculated using what she could only refer to as a 'nuclear option' on the CatCo deal. But she didn't think it was something that should be floating around the office. “It was just about a bunch of rumors.” Kara walked away before Winn started asking more questions.

She didn't think he truly wanted to wreck Cat's company. Not after what he had said about her accomplishments the previous night. _Or maybe that was a eulogy._

How fast and how far the 'rumor' would spread was a concern. All of the podcasts would go out by midday. It could be mentioned online in the afternoon. After that would be a mystery. Other news outlets could pick it up. It could stay confined to a group of particular people. It could be ignored, but if James was putting it out, then it probably wasn't going to be.


	11. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Supergirl – Kara Danvers**

Kara hung around the office and listened to see if James' info leak spread in house. After a few hours, she found that it was a topic of hushed conversation among some in the news areas. Otherwise, most CatCo employees weren't paying much attention to 'daily finance' news and gossip.

She decided that something must have happened when James met with Lena Luthor. He couldn't voice it, but something had disturbed James to such a degree that he was doing this. She wondered if she might be able to get a meeting with Ms Luthor. She pulled out her phone, then thought it might be better to simply go to her office.

To Kara's knowledge, Lena Luthor had leased temporary offices while the Harbor Green building was being set up to her specifications. She was familiar with the complex and when a person could fly, there wasn't anyplace in town that wasn't in almost instantaneous reach.

There were a few extra security guards on the grounds. They looked highly competent, unlike security she had noticed on this property previously. They were friendly and showed her into the lobby of the building that Ms. Luthor was working out of. The receptionist seemed out of his depth. His tie was crooked and there was a small but noticeable drop of barbecue sauce on his shirt. Several phone lines were ringing and he seemed to be having trouble keeping up. Kara guessed that this person worked for the property manager and not for LexCorp. The extra activity generated with LexCorp doing business out of the building had overwhelmed him.

Kara told him that she was from the National City Tribune and was hoping to ask Ms. Luthor about the Oncology department at the hospital. There was a call made that seemed to prompt a confirmation that she was a CatCo employee. Then Kara was directed to the elevator.

She exited the elevator and made her way to the office that Lena Luthor was working out of. Inside she was greeted by a young woman. The woman appeared to be of Chinese descent and was immaculately dressed and wearing a delightful perfume. This must have been a personal assistant. Her phone was also ringing quite a bit.

“Ms. Danvers,” she said. “I'm Alana. Ms. Luthor will be with you as soon as possible if you would like to have a seat. Could I get you something.”

Kara told her she was fine and sat down. Alana returned to her desk and started answering calls. Kara thought she was going to be waiting for a while, so she pulled up a book she had been reading on her phone.

A dark haired man with a beard and mustache exited Ms. Luthor's office. Kara thought she recognized him but couldn't remember from where. He stopped at Alana's desk.

“Hope to see you again soon Alana.”

“Did things go well Jack?”

“We'll see,” he answered. “Apparently there's been an unexpected complication.”

“Good luck.”

He smiled at Kara as he left the room.

To her surprise, a few minutes later, Alana showed her into Ms. Luthor's office.

A stunning woman was standing just inside the door to greet her.

“Hello Ms. Luthor. I'm Kara Danvers.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Lena smiled and continued, “And please call me Lena.”

It was a smile that Kara couldn't help but return. “Please call me Kara.”

Lena Luthor was an inch, maybe two, shorter than Kara. She wore her black hair straight and it hung to the lapels of her black blazer. Her skin was a fair porcelain tone and she wore rich, red lipstick. She clearly liked jewelry, wearing multiple gold and silver bracelets on each arm. She wore a red blouse under her blazer, a black skirt, and black strappy heels. Her voice had a slight Irish accent. From Lena's mouth, it was exotic to Kara's ear.

Kara felt a wave of excitement, which became seasoned with embarrassment. Her body still hummed from her night of lovemaking, she could still feel the tension in her hips from how she had been thrusting them. _It hasn't even been twenty four hours._ But Kara couldn't help it. She measured how Lena's clothes hung on her. Lena was dressed respectably, but Kara could tell there was a magnificent body under that business attire.

They moved to the desk Lena was using. Lena sat behind the desk, in front of a large window. Kara sat in front of the desk.

“I know it's a little warm in here. Would you like a drink.”

“Yes,” Kara answered.

Lena retrieved a bottle of water from a small refrigerator in the desk. Kara sat nervously and took a big drink with Lena watching.

“I expected Mr. Olsen to send a reporter. Considering how our meeting went, I'm surprised your weren't here early this morning. But I don't recognize your name.”

Kara didn't expect her to say something like that. “I just started,” Kara said, “reporting that is.”

“Really? City desk? Investigations? Finance?”

Kara felt confused. This was her first interview. But she hadn't come to really do an interview. And she didn't expect to be answering questions. She now imagined that reporters did prep work before an interview; she had simply rushed over. “No. Do you know all of the Tribune's reporters?”

“Yes. Well, those from the past five years.”

“You read the Tribune?”

“Not until recently. Since I did the deal with Cat Grant, the Tribune has the resources to have a global footprint. I took a look at all of the reporters while we were in discussions.”

Kara was about to speak again when Lena smiled at her. It was somehow disarming.

She pointed at Kara. “I bet he thinks sending a fresh face will cause me to disclose something I was 'hiding'.”

A couple of directions she could go in made their way into Kara's mind. She randomly picked the one more important to her. “How did your meeting with him go?”

“About as well as it could I suspect with a person who doesn't trust you. Judging by a podcast from today and some phone calls I've been getting, it didn't go very well for him either.”

“Why do you think that was?”

Lena didn't immediately answer, seemingly taking a minute to think. “I want this off the record.”

“OK.”

“Because my family name is difficult to live down. Particularly so for Superman's best friend. Because he doesn't trust me and has limited incentive to. Because Cat insisted on keeping him out of discussions on the deal we were making, even though she was grooming him for a larger role in the company. Now, from his point of view, a lot of things look suspicious.”

Kara sat listening.

“I suggested to Cat that he be brought in earlier. Explain what we were looking to do. She said she would take care of it. Then she laughed and said he was probably going to be too tired to participate meaningfully anyway.”

_Did that have something to do with_ us _?_

“Now James Olsen thinks somebody made a deal with the devil. Because of circumstances, it would be a conflict of interest for Cat Grant to mediate. The only thing worse would be if he were dating Supergirl.”

_Umm._ “What makes you say that?”

“I'm sorry. I'm a little frustrated. It made me ramble. And I have to admit, you seem easy to talk to. Did he want you to ask me a specific question?”

Lena had given her a lot to consider. But the most important thing was that she didn't seem dangerous. “Well, James didn't send me. I work at the science desk.”

“What brings you to see me?” Lena placed her chin in her hand.

She felt as if she were about to make a confession. “I'm working on my first article. There are rumors about what you are doing with the Oncology department at the hospital.” Kara shyly shrugged. “I'd like to know what you're doing.”

“Tell you what,” Lena said, “let's take a ride.”

Lena put on a pair of mirrored sunglasses and together they left the office and took a ride in Lena's limousine

As soon as they pulled out of the parking lot, Lena's phone rang. She looked at it and looked at Kara. “I think I need to take this call. Can you keep this off the record.”

“Yes.”

Lena tied the call into the speakers in the car. She motioned her finger in front of her lips for Kara to be quiet. “Proceed,” she said.

Immediately, there was a cascade of multiple voices. Lena remained silent while they slowly sorted themselves out. It was similar to the meeting in James' office in that it was a group of finance people. There was also a bit more panic in their voices.

“What are you going to do about this?”

“About what? What difference is there from a few hours ago?” Lena asked.

“There's an internet article.”

“About National City's NFL team stinking?”

“No,” the voice said, “about your CatCo deal.”

Another voice joined in. “The deal won't work if there are delays.”

Someone else. “Olsen leaked this. You can't let this stand. I've got three wives to pay alimony to.”

The second voice returned. “People are talking about leaving.”

“Until they do,” Lena said, “tell them to get to work.”

The third voice. “We're gonna have to sue.”

The full cascade returned. “Yeah sue.” “Make him honor the deal.” “Sue.” “File an injunction.” “Call a press conference.” “Sue.” “Tell me where his lawyer's office is.” “I just bought a boat.” “Sue.”

“Please stop.” Lena said. Her voice was the definition of calm command. “No one's going to sue. First, you don't know that Mr. Olsen leaked anything. Second, it will only make things worse.” Lena took a breath. “If anybody from my company is asked about this, the proper answer is 'we welcome a thorough review process' and other than that 'no comment'. If I hear about any other answer that person is getting fired.”

There was a level of low chatter in response.

“Everything is going to be fine. The deal is going to proceed as planned. Quit worrying.” Lena then gave all of them a polite “good afternoon” and concluded the call.

Remembering the conversation in James' office, Kara asked, “You aren't concerned at all?”

“No.” Lena seemed to think for a moment. “Fights are won before they're fought. The truth here is that James Olsen has a window to do wherever he wants to. I can't stop him. Even if I could, it wouldn't be good.”

“Why?”

“I want to re-brand this company. Change the name to L-Corp. Make it a positive force. This deal will allow me to do that. Everyone involved is almost guaranteed to make money. The company will have more money and assets at it's disposal than my brother was ever able to gather. But I needed to borrow money at less than favorable terms. More legitimate lenders won't do business with 'LexCorp'.”

Kara listened to Lena explain her dilemma. For her, she seemed to be especially open, perhaps recklessly so. At least, Lena was being open with _her_.

“Whatever I do won't be considered 'defending my company' or 'saving a deal'. It will be seen as an attack on 'Superman's best friend'. In a conflict, win or lose, no one will want to do business with me. And,” she continued, pointing her finger, “right now? If he so much as stubs his toe? Guess who's going to get blamed.”

“You think that?”

Lena lifted her hand as if she were making newspaper headlines. “James Olsen is unexpectedly thrust into leadership role. James Olsen is suspicious of LexCorp deal. James Olsen mysteriously disappears from laundromat. 'Luthor' suspected in Olsen case.”

They arrived at the hospital.

“The ball is in Mr. Olsen's court. I want this deal to work. If it does, I, and he, will have a lot of power, a lot of options to do things. It will legitimize me and L-Corp. It's not just about the money, but let me show you what some of that money is going to do.”

They entered the building and made their way to then Oncology wing. It looked as if some construction work was ready to begin. The head of Oncology was there and greeted Lena when she saw her.

“This is Kara Danvers with the National City Tribune. She wants to get some info on what we're doing.”

“I don't think we're ready for a lot of publicity yet, but come take a look at this.”

The three of them went to the doctor's office. It was an absolute mess. Medical journals were scattered on the desk and the table in the corner. A half eaten pizza in an open box was on a shelf. The doctor pulled a floor-plan from under a pile of miscellaneous papers.

“Lena is funding an expansion of the Oncology unit. It'll be three times the size it is now. And we're going to run a lot more clinical trials out of it. It'll be cutting edge.”

The doctor produced an artist rendering of the wing. It looked beautiful, with an edgy modern design.

“Did you speak with Mr. Spheer.”

“I did today,” Lena answered, “he says hello by the way.”

The doctor looked at Kara. “We're going to be pursuing multiple avenues of cancer treatments. Lena's friend thinks that nanobots is the way to go. Lena disagrees.”

“I would too,” Kara said.

“Engineering a power source would always be a problem,” Lena said.

“They would need an onboard computer.” Kara said. “Engineering that would be difficult, if not impossible. I'd recommend a biological agent.”

“Viral,” Lena said.

“Viral would be best,” Kara said, “but you have to overcome immune system defense and be careful about targeting the cancerous mass.”

“I'm already there. The treatment I envision uses genetic material from the patient's white blood cells. We may need to extract cells from the cancer inside the patient.”

“Teach the virus to recognize each patient individually?” Kara asked.

The doctor stood silently, letting Kara and Lena talk.

“Take the virus and 'customize' it for each patient,” Lena said.

“Sounds expensive.”

“In the beginning, yes. But, after a few rounds, I'll be able to automate the process. With luck, in two the four years, we save a lot of lives.”

“Don't clinical trials take longer than that?” Kara asked.

“If progress is good. I might be able to pull strings. But progress would have to be very good. I'm optimistic about the time table.”

“You engineered this virus yourself?”

“Yes, it's completely harmless. Perfect for gene therapy,” Lena said.

Kara could see the excitement flashing in Lena's green eyes. _Incredible._

They gave Kara a tour of the wing, pointing out updates that would be made. She then recognized the man who exited Lena's office as the Mr. Spheer that the doctor was referring to. Jack Spheer owned Spheerical Industries, a small company specializing in nanotech. And they were in fact having trouble with power sources.

“Was Jack Spheer working with LexCorp?”

“Jack?” Lena said. “No. He prefers to work on his own.”

“Close friend?”

Lena smiled. “At times too close.”

“Ah.” They began to walk back to the limo.

“And James Olsen?” Lena asked.

“Huh?”

“'James didn't send me'. Close friend?”

A memory of their previous night flashed into her mind and Kara couldn't help but blush.

“Is he sick?”

“Why do you ask that?” Kara asked.

“During our meeting he went to the bathroom three times and there were moments when he looked at me and it looked like he blanked out.”

Kara wondered if some of James' strange behavior was due to something greater.

Lena insisted on giving Kara a lift back to the CatCo building. As they sat in the limousine, Kara tried to ignore and suppress the feelings boiling within her. Her attraction to Lena was different than what she felt for James when they first met. _They're two different people. I don't think it's possible to have the_ same _attraction to two different people._ But there were similarities that she found disconcerting. Her attraction to both of them was immediate, powerful, and disorienting. Kara found Lena to be beautiful, with lush, healthy curves. She wanted to help people. She was, judging by her work on the experimental cancer treatments, possibly the most intelligent person she had met on this planet.

She decided that she needed to be very careful about this. Because of James' provocative action, things were going to be complicated enough as it was. But at the very least, Kara thought that Lena deserved the benefit of the doubt. She hadn't done anything.

When they arrived at the CatCo building, Kara waited a moment then said, “You could ask me to put in a word for you with James. Why haven't you?”

Lena turned her head toward Kara and took a moment before answering. With her eyes hidden behind her pair of mirrored sunglasses, she said, “I want to ask you a lot of things Ms. Danvers. Under the circumstances, most of them would be unethical and would probably only inflame the situation further.”

Somehow, Kara felt that Lena was undressing her with her eyes hidden.

They reached for each other at the same time and shook hands.

“I hope you have what you need for your article.”

“I think so. Thank you for taking the time.” Kara exited the vehicle.

Lena moved over to the seat Kara had been in and rolled down the window. “You're welcome. You,” she added, “and anyone else from CatCo can come see me anytime for whatever information you might need.”

Kara watched as the limo slowly pulled away.


	12. Cat Grant

**Cat Grant**

Cat had seen more caskets in the past few days than she had ever expected to see in her lifetime. It had been exhausting and depressing. On several occasions she had sat in her office contemplating if she had made the right decisions regarding the coordination of funerals. When the final tally of dead officials, cabinet members, senators, congressmen, and staff members was presented to Isabella, she had become almost despondent. Cat felt that Isabella was still not in the proper frame of mind to give an interview, much less preside over funeral processions that could conceivably last for a month. So she decided to create a schedule that would conclude the matter in as short a time as possible.

The remains of those who were aboard Air Force One, the President and the members of the National Security Council, had been the easiest to identify. Cat felt that the fallen President should be placed to lay in state at the rotunda of the United States Capitol during all of the proceedings and be placed to rest last.

Five former Presidents, members of their administrations, and a long list of retired generals were asked to help provide comfort and deliver eulogies. Sorting out who would go where and when had been maddening. Each set of funerals were spread over several days.

The first set of funerals were for cabinet members. This had been the most orderly day. Many of their families preferred private ceremonies. But most received full processions and burials in Arlington National Cemetery.

Following this, the Senators who were killed in Metropolis were put to rest. These funerals were more elaborate. They took longer individually and there were more instances where there was a service in Washington, DC and another in the Senator's home state. There were more instances where a President or administration official spoke at their funeral or memorial. This prompted Secret Service concerns. Some officials needed to appear at more than one funeral causing transportation concerns. This was a period that Cat was almost sure would produce a major traffic accident; but none occurred.

Cat found the next set of funerals the most sorrowful. All of the previous days featured a beginning where a row of caskets draped with American flags were escorted from cargo planes by soldiers. But when the remains of the congressmen and the staff members they had taken with them to Tel Aviv arrived it became exponentially more heartbreaking.

Plane after plane touched down at the airport. An unimaginably long line of caskets were led in front of Isabella for inspection. It seemed to last forever. All seemed quiet except for the sound of the soldiers methodical march as they carried casket, after casket, after casket, after casket toward waiting hertzes. Cat still had trouble getting the sound out of her head.

Cat could tell that Isabella was having trouble holding herself together at the sight of this. Watching her, Cat grew more and more nervous. The mystery of what the country would think if a female President broke down in public was of tremendous concern to her.

All had seemed fine when the procession ended, but Cat noticed that Isabella seemed to stagger as they made their way back to the motorcade. Cat walked up behind her and took her gently by the waist. She whispered to one of the Secret Service agents, “Give us a minute and step away from the car.” The agent seemed to understand.

Cat managed to get Isabella into the car. They sat silently for a brief moment and then Isabella broke down into tears in Car's arms.

The next day was the day of the funeral for the President. That morning, Cat advised Isabella to stay at the White House.

“I have to go,” Isabella had replied.

Knowing who Isabella would have to speak after, Cat repeated her advice. “It will be the first time you've spoken as President. It won't look good.”

Used to following Cat's advice, Isabella seemed to give it some thought. But in the end she said, “I have to go.”

On the way to the funeral, Cat had tried to imagine it turning out well. _It could be the perfect time for her to finally speak,_ she had thought to herself. But it turned out worse than she had imagined.

At the funeral for a President, living members of that highly exclusive of clubs were expected to speak. The full collection of five had come to this funeral and, due to the circumstances, were ready to showcase their patriotism.

Even Cat found it stirring to see the first two who spoke due to their age. Both had been born in the 1920's. The first of the pair was accompanied to the podium by his wife, who, although she was born just three years after him, seemed ten years younger. The second of the pair was in a wheelchair and wore an oxygen mask. They both delivered brief but strong remarks.

The next two were born in the 1960's. Both had appeared healthy and vibrant, more than willing and able to move without assistance.

The first of this pair was known to possess a sort of swarmy charm that had gotten him into a wide variety of romantic escapades over the years. Cat was well aware of his reputation, but on this day he was serious and subdued. His swarmy charm served him well in the setting as he delivered his remarks.

The second of the pair had been deemed to be somewhat lacking in intelligence. The back end of his presidency had been beset by a major foreign policy error and the beginning of a financial crisis. When he left office he seemed to become stranger, happier, and sillier. His remarks were delivered in a direct, folksy manner. They were simple and without flowery language. On his way back to his seat, he gave a piece of candy to the wife of fifth President in attendance, who all eyes now turned to.

At this point, Cat had hoped to get lucky. But the look on the next speaker's face communicated a focus that was already beginning to be felt among the attendees.

Since this tragedy had struck, there had been a certain void in the public consciousness. They now had a President that they didn't know and that no one in political circles had ever seen. There was a need for comfort that Cat had wanted to position Isabella to provide. She had been working toward that end. James' photographs and how he had structured CatCo's coverage had helped, but Cat knew that there was still much work to be done.

The man about to speak had not been out of the Presidency for very long. He and his amazingly elegant wife were among the most admired people in the world. Many citizens retained fond memories of his time of public service. And he possessed an arsenal of personal tools that made him uniquely suited for public speaking. Cat could tell that he also sensed the void that she did. Perhaps instinctively, perhaps simply wanting to provide comfort, perhaps out of a sense of concern, he moved to fill that void. He unleashed the full range of his oratorical gifts and Cat knew that everyone in attendance was moved.

Isabella, being the current President, spoke last. It was the first time she had given a speech of this nature. Cat found her to be an average public speaker in college; here she came across as much worse. She seemed small. Cat knew that much of the work she had put in had been undone.

* * *

Tonight Cat had a meeting with a former contact named Joe Atkinson. Mr. Atkinson had spent years running the Inter Agency Defense Command, a now defunct agency that had been absorbed into the Homeland Security Department. He held out until the end and finally took retirement, but Cat had discovered that he remained extremely plugged into the Washington, DC and the intelligence community.

He had given Cat information that had allowed her to break several stories in her career that helped her to grow CatCo. She also got information that led her to get an extensive interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Cat was able to befriend Justice Ginsberg who proceeded to drink her under the table over breakfast on several occasions when the court was out of session.

Mr. Atkinson was shown into Cat's office. He was now in his mid nineties and had lost the vast majority of his hair, but Cat was surprised at how energetic he was, particularly at this hour of the evening. As he sat down, Cat offered him a drink. Cat nodded to her secretary when he asked for an iced tea. After briefly greeting each other, they moved right into a discussion.

“I hear you brought in Etta Candy as Director of National Intelligence,” he said.

“Right now it's Special Assistant to the President on National Intelligence. The DNI needs a Senate confirmation and until there is a full Senate, I don't think we should be trying to push people through.”

“I don't think you need to worry. Confirmation will be a breeze for Etta, regardless of how the Senate shakes out. ”

The tea arrived and Joe took a big drink.

“So what can I do for you?”

“We need a National Security Advisor. Someone from the outside of the normal loop. I don't trust some of the information that I've seen. And I need to get the President up to speed on several different areas faster.” Cat took a drink of her own water. “You have a way of doing that.”

“That's going to piss some people off.”

Cat shrugged. _If their feelings are hurt, they can stay home and pee in their diapers._

“I can handle that. I'll put together some presentations,” Joe continued.

“How long do you need?”

“I can have something by tomorrow morning.”

“Really?” Cat was expecting that it might take a week to gather info. “Let me show you the office you'll be working from.”

* * *

The following morning, Cat strutted into her office next to the Oval Office and took her seat. Her secretary promptly and quietly brought her a latte. One thing Cat had to admit was that of all of the places she had been, the White House always prepared her latte exactly as she preferred it. She took a moment to savor the scent and took a sip. She expected this to be her one moment of peace for the day.

Exactly as scheduled, a gentleman brought in, straight from Etta Candy's desk, the President's Daily Brief. It was a summary of classified intelligence analysis, worldwide United States covert operations, and other sensitive information. It was assembled by drawing information from the FBI and the United States Intelligence Community. Cat liked the document condensed to twenty pages and noticed that today's was a bit light; fourteen pages.

Cat liked to read the PDB and highlight certain sections before taking it to Isabella to discuss. As she began to read, she wondered what she could have done with the information in the document if she were still running CatCo. Putting that aside, she noticed that Mr. Atkinson had already made his presence felt. The information was more diversely sourced than it had been on previous days. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, other than a former gossip columnist now being aware of both the CIA operations in thirty countries and the French President's diplomatic faux pas at a dinner. She finished the document at the same time as she finished her latte.

She made her way over to the residence. She always took notice of the Secret Service agents posted in the hallway. They always stood so solemnly, yet were very friendly and kind when asked direct questions. She pulled out her phone and entered a time to check on her children to see how they were managing with their Secret Service detail.

Cat entered the west sitting hall and turned left into the President's bedroom. Isabella was not inside, but a television was tuned to a news station. _You could at least watch one of the CatCo stations. Ugh. This ghastly anchor should try a new wig._ She turned off the television and heard Isabella in the dressing room.

“I was listening to that Cat. Turn it back on.”

“It's a violation of national security.”

“Cat.”

“Well it should be. We don't need to worry about that right now anyway.”

Cat walked into the dressing room watched Isabella put on her suit jacket. Isabella looked at her then turned back to the mirror and tried to adjust her jacket. “Tell me something Cat,” Isabella said, “don't you hate the way you're dressing now?”

“Yes. But it's necessary.” Cat stood beside Isabella and looked at herself in today's pantsuit “ _You_ have to attract attention. _I_ have to fade into the background now. It would send a bad message if I were looking hotter than the President.”

Isabella gave her a look, then went back to adjusting her clothing.

_This isn't a bad pantsuit, but a pantsuit is a pantsuit_ Cat missed her more form fitting and colorful wardrobe.

For Isabella, Cat felt she had chosen the correct attire. She stood behind her and helped her feel comfortable in her skin, lightly holding her shoulders, and then adjusting her jacket. “ _You_ need to 'exude power'. You can be sexy, but not too sexy.” Isabella's typical attire now was a suit jacket and matching skirt. Today in black, but other days in navy blue or dark brown. Button up shirt; top button open very occasionally. One or two inch heel, conservative shoe, comfort prioritized. The cut of the suit was conservative, with a tuck here and there. The only allowance being the skirt hanging just below the knee. Cat couldn't bring herself to cover Isabella's lovely calfs. Cameras would usually shoot her from the waist up anyway. They looked into each other's eyes through the mirror. “Attractive women can make men feel nervous. Normally I'd push back. But I don't want somebody firing a nuke and blaming you for it.”

They moved to the President's dining room. Breakfast was a sausage tortilla bake with mild salsa and orange juice. Isabella read the PDB while they ate and asked Cat a question here and there.

“Today's your first national security briefing.”

Isabella's shoulders slumped.

After yesterday, Cat was anticipating a reaction. She braced herself.

“Do you think I should be doing this?”

More quickly than she expected, Cat answered, “Yes.” _Leave it there._

“Why?”

Now Cat had to give an answer that she wasn't sure Isabella would believe. “I think you're supposed to.”

“What?”

_How is this going to sound?_ “I think, sometimes, we pick moments. Sometimes, moments pick us.”

Isabella looked at her.

“I worked in gossip longer than I wanted to. I know all of the oddities of human nature. For this, right now, you're the person I want,” Cat said, “that is, if I have a say.”

Isabella continued to look at her. Cat couldn't tell what she was thinking, but her shoulders weren't slumped. She had placed the PDB on the table. Cat picked it up and handed it to her.

“Today's your first national security briefing. Alien and Metahuman affairs.”

Isabella took the document and finished reading it. “When is it.”

Cat looked at her phone. “We're running behind.”

Isabella moved to stand, but Cat grabbed her wrist. “Finish your breakfast. You're the President. We'll wait for you.”

Cat had decided to have Isabella take her first national security briefing in the White House Situation Room, thinking that the first time that she saw to a matter requiring the use of the room shouldn't be during an actual crisis. In addition the room was equipped with monitors to display any needed information to round out the briefing.

As they walked down the staircase to the White House basement, Cat angled her head to whisper into Isabella's ear. “Just remember if you want to take a moment or say something you don't want them to hear, all you have to do is say 'excuse me for a moment' and leave the room.”

Isabella responded with a look that communicated that she had been told that several times and nodded.

A military officer in full dress uniform opened the door and gave a firm salute as Cat followed Isabella into the room. The room was well lit. A large polished table stood in the center, with a seat at the head and six seats on each side. There was no seat at the far end and the line of sight to the monitor on the was was unencumbered. Ten other chairs lined the walls to the left and right. Two more monitors were fitted into the walls above those chairs on each side of the room. There was a digital clock fitted into the walls as well, listing three times, one of which was 'Presidential Time'.

The assembled personnel in the room stood when Isabella entered. Joe Atkinson and Etta Candy stood at the second and fourth chairs on the left of the table. On the right side of the table, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau stood. Several other cabinet members and personnel stood where they had been sitting against the wall. The sight reminded Cat that there were many positions that still needed to be staffed.

Many of the people in the room had been deputies in their departments. A testament to just how many government officials had died on Air Force One. All of the military personnel on the right of the table were 'acting' in their positions, except the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and he looked around the room like he was part of a group of tourists. The others simply looked confused. It made Cat nervous.

Isabella approached Joe while Cat went to the chair on the right of the table closest to the end where Isabella would be sitting. She looked at the National Guard Chief and motioned for him to bend toward her.

“Excuse me, did you recently grow boobs?”

“What?”

Cat tapped the table with her pen in front of one of the paper name tags that she had asked to be used to mark seating. It said, 'Chief of Staff – Cat Grant.'

“Excuse me ma'am” All of the personnel on that side moved one space down.

She watched Isabella work the room. After greeting and shaking Joe's hand, Isabella moved to Etta Candy. Etta stood about five feet, two inches tall and was fifty-two years old. She had a medium, dark skin tone and displayed a friendly smile. Her hair was pulled back into a half-updo and hung at the back of her neck with the ends flipped out.

“Thank you for joining us.”

“A pleasure Madam President.”

After greeting everyone, Isabella took her seat and everyone else sat in unison.

“Let's go ahead and get started Joe,” Cat said.

“If no one minds, I'd like Etta to start us off on this one.”

“That's fine,” Isabella said.

Etta began by stating that although the matter with the DEO had spilled into public view, she thought it would be best to begin by providing an overview of the current state of metahumans and aliens within the country. Cat knew that Isabella had very limited knowledge of the DEO matter so to her it was a good idea.

According to the information available, human contact with aliens had occurred, outside of miscellaneous events, in three waves. The earliest was the Martian Holocaust. Three hundred years ago a Martian civilization destroyed its own biosphere during an ethnic cleansing event. Survivors of which migrated to earth and, being shapeshifters, had been able to blend into the populace. The next was the Kryptonian Cataclysm. The planet Krypton exploded and, through various means, a group of survivors had been directed toward Earth. This led to encounters with Kryptonians of various intent, exotic radioactive materials, and multiple forms of artificial intelligence, culminating with the National City event. Correlating with the Kryptonian Cataclysm, but seemingly unconnected to it, was the Orion Migration. Small groups of refugees, up to forty races, fleeing an interstellar event, consistently make their way to Earth. This is ongoing.

Metahumans were less complicated. They were explained as human being who gained abilities either naturally somehow or via contact with unexplained phenomena.

“Out of these two groups, the Intelligence Community has identified twenty, maybe up to thirty, of these individuals that were found to be 'of note'” Etta said.

One of the Joint Chiefs decided to chime in. “These are threats to national security Madam President.”

Isabella looked at Joe and Etta. “Dangerous?”

“That's a complex question.” Etta pulled up a photograph on the main monitor. It was of a flying man wearing a red and yellow outfit. His face seemed to be an African mask and the top of his head was on fire.

“For example. This person displays mastery of advanced theoretical physics, has some ability to restructure physical matter, and absorbed all of the radiation from a nuclear accident. He also was seen begging to get into a Detroit Pistons basketball game because 'LeBron was there', spends time loitering around downtown Detroit, and was seen feeding a stray dog.”

“I don't think he's dangerous,” Joe added, “I think he's some kid. Maybe sixteen or seventeen who alternates between trying to help out and having nothing to do with his afternoons. I think 'of note' is the proper designation.”

“Let's move on to four who we find to be of particular importance,” Etta said. “We've given every individual of note a designation. Starting with Superman. Designation Alpha 4. Everybody knows Superman. We think his refusal to work with government officials has caused us other problems. It might be worth attempting a diplomatic gesture of some sort, because of...”

“Supergirl, Designation Alpha 3.”

“Is there a problem with Supergirl?” Cat asked.

“Again, there's complexity here.” Photographs and footage of Supergirl began to appear on the monitor. “She may be more powerful than typical Kryptonians. She overpowered a Kryptonian General and rendered him comatose with her heat vision. If Kryptonians are analogous to 'solar batteries', she may be a 'more efficient' version. She's less experienced and perhaps less restrained. Possibly more willing to intervene in geopolitical affairs.”

Joe added, “the NSA has a personality profile for Superman that predicts his behavior quite accurately. But we don't exactly know what Supergirl's core values are. That makes her more unpredictable. Again, she's 'of note'”.

“Diana, also known as Wonder Woman. Alpha 2.”

The monitor switched to footage of a woman who Cat found to be impossibly beautiful. She wore what seemed to be both a swimsuit and a suit of armor. Oddly it has design features that resembled the American flag. This was someone Cat hadn't thought of for a while. She seemed to have disappeared shortly before Supergirl appeared in National City. Cat noticed Isabella's eyes widen slightly at the sight of the woman.

“What is this woman's story?” Isabella asked.

“Diana is the chief ambassador and heir to the throne of a theocratic, archipelagic, island nation of women known as Themyscira. Basically she is the most intelligent, powerful, and trained of a nation of metahumans. It's an ancient society that at an early point separated into two tribes then later reconstituted. They utilize highly advanced technology, including stealth craft, and magic.”

“What happened to her?” Cat asked.

“We believe Themyscira came under attack by an extra-dimensional entity and a few Amazons were killed. In reprisal, the entire nation mounted a counter attack in that entity's home territory.”

“Are they dead?”

Etta restrained a laugh. “No. I included them here because we think they will return some time in the near future. In addition we believe there is a third tribe of Amazons, but we're waiting for a confirmation.”

“That leads us to Alpha 1. J'onn J'onzz.”

“The Martian.” The Joint Chiefs decided to speak up. “Madam President. We have this alien in custody right now. The Joint Chiefs are in agreement. This alien should be tried.”

“That is not our view, Madam President. Our intelligence suggests that J'onn J'onzz has strong relationships and is held in high regard within the alien and metahuman communities,” Etta said.

“He's seen as having been helpful,” Joe added.

The Chairman began again, “He's committed treason. We should put him in a prison and celebrate.”

“Will you be celebrating when our reputation among metahumans is irrevocably damaged? Madam President, The United States would never restore goodwill with this group if that were to happen. Never.”

“You're excusing treason?”

Joe responded. “He hasn't 'declared war' or 'given aid to our enemies'”

“He's degraded our defense options.”

Cat watched Isabella's eyes move back and forth. She wasn't prepared for this sort of disagreement within this bare bones national security team. “What did J'onn J'onzz do?”

“He infiltrated the DEO and impersonated the Director.”

Isabella asked, “Why? Money?”

_That would be simple,_ Cat thought. _Something tells me this wont be simple._

“To reform the agency, capture aliens who posed high level threats, and out of concern for the family of an agent who was killed.”

“So,” she paused for a moment, “he helped us?”

Etta said, “When you examine the breadth of the DEO's operations and it's connections to another project called Cadmus, you have to conclude that it would be impossible for one person, who is concealing his identity, to really help.”

The Joint Chiefs were starting to get upset. “The DEO is, well was, one of several agencies and projects that enhance this country's security.”

“Madam President, Etta has prepared briefing books for you on these projects the Joint Chiefs are describing. Lets take a look at them.” Joe pulled out a binder that looked like it contained twenty pages. “This details General Wade Eiling's Dilustel project. An attempt to bond a volunteer soldier to an alien metal to bestow powers.”

Isabella leafed through it. “What has this produced?”

“About five hundred dead rats.”

Cat watched her glance at the Joint Chiefs. “OK,” Isabella said. “What else?”

“Here's the info on T.O. Morrow's Red Tornado android. Went rogue during it's first test. Had to be destroyed. A billion dollars wasted. And I question the tactical advantage of unleashing tornadoes in populated areas. And General Lane's report on this is just a bunch of ranting and blaming everyone except himself.”

Cat saw one of the Joint Chiefs look down at the table and shift his eyes around.

“This is information on Henry Bendix's Stormwatch project. An attempt to use genetic engineering and other exotic methods to produce a superhuman.”

The Joint Chiefs groaned.

“What happened?”

“It produced one asset, code named Midnighter. Details are sketchy but according to files his first mission was to neutralize terrorists operating out of a elementary school in Pakistan. When he returned he killed the officer who gave the order, carved the word 'liars' into the chests of everyone in the unit with a fountain pen, and disappeared.”

_I'm not sure that's what they mean by 'friendly fire'._

Then a book was produced that made 'War and Peace' look like a beach read. “With information that J'onzz has provided to us, these are all of the dots we've connected, _so far_ , between the DEO, Cadmus, and other side projects.”

Isabella looked at the book and then at Cat.

“There's plenty there. Just pick a page.”

Cat stood over Isabella's shoulder as she opened the book at about seventy five pages in.

Etta said, “Madam President. When all is said and done, the very existence of the DEO will have severely damaged the credibility of yours and several other administrations. It cannot be salvaged. This is a disaster area.”

_Is this torturing alien children? Morae?_ “J'onn J'onzz did this?”

“No. He is still unaware of the existence of all of this. The DEO was organized to provide the director with 'plausible deniability' over many of it's activities. When he infiltrated the DEO he wouldn't have known about these things.”

“So _we_ did this.” Isabella slammed the book shut and stood. The room stood with her. “Excuse me for a moment.” Cat followed her up the staircase and into the Oval Office. Cat closed the door behind them and looked to make sure the door on the other side of the room was shut.

“Cat? What the hell?” Isabella said.

Cat didn't have a response to offer. For a few moments, they stood silently. Cat thought Isabella was going to throw up. “Lets sit down.”

Isabella walked over to the desk, took a look at it for a moment, and sat down in the chair. Cat sat in a chair that was next to the desk on Isabella's right.

“Cat, how can I fix this?”

Even with everything they had been told, it was unclear what the full extent of 'this' was. Thinking of the size of the report they were shown, Cat had serious doubts on being able to process all of the information that was in it in a short period. She decided to think like a journalist for a few moments. “It may be best to just expose it. Get all of the information out there. Keep doing it as it gets untangled.”

“Those Joint Chiefs,” Isabella said, “I don't think they're up to the job. Should I fire all of them?”

Cat had thought that the military would be disciplined enough to manage itself while she arranged personnel in other cabinet departments, now she had a change of opinion. “I don't think you should fire all of them. It might look like a coup attempt was staged or something. But I think the Chairman has to go. The new one needs to be someone who can get the rest to fall in line. We need to get a Secretary of Defense yesterday too.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“I can start work on it, but Joe and Etta might be able to speed things up. Do you mind getting input from them?”

“I trust _you_ Cat. Whatever you think is best.”

The Executive Secretary entered the office. “Ma'am, line one for you.”

They only now noticed the blinking light on the phone. Isabella stared at it. Cat pressed the button, putting the call on speaker. “Yes.”

It was Joe. “Madam President. You're needed in the Situation Room. There's been an incident.”

Isabella hung her head.

_What now?_ Cat thought.

Down the hallway and the staircase they went back to the Situation Room.

“What happened,” Cat asked.

“There's been a breakout. All of the DEO prisoners have escaped.”

Over the next hour, Isabella was brought up to speed on the transfer of the DEO prisoners to an Army facility. However the facility they escaped from wasn't the one they were supposed to be held at. And there was a set of prisoners at the facility that the DEO prisoners were supposed to be at. It appeared that they had been switched.

“Who was supposed to be in charge of all of this?” she asked.

“General Sam Lane.”

“General Lane's name appears a lot in matters regarding the DEO and Cadmus.”

“Have him debriefed.” Isabella said.

Then she said something that surprised Cat.

“I want to talk to the Martian.”


	13. J'onn J'onzz

**J'onn J'onzz**

Despite the worries of his friends about Cadmus, J'onn found that his only enemy in the safe house was boredom.

He had been surprised that they were keeping him in an actual house. It was remotely located and in a lightly populated area, but nonetheless it was a house. It had a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a garage. There was a dining area where his guards spent most of their time playing cards. The living area had a larger table where representatives from various agencies would question him.

He had four guards assigned to him. Every couple of days, a new one would rotate in and one would be rotated out. Whenever that happened, the guards would want him to tell them the story of how he captured Jemm. Sometimes they wanted to hear how he originally caught him. At other times they wanted to hear about how he caught him when he got loose inside the DEO.

He had expected to be inside of some sort of facility with tighter security. With this set up, he could have simply flown away anytime he wanted. J'onn had wondered if it was some sort of test to see if he would simply try to disappear. But he hadn't seen or experienced anything to dissuade him from this course of action.

His attorney visited him daily, usually in the mornings. She would give him information on his case and ask if he wanted to file a motion to alter the arrangement this was being done under. J'onn would simply let her know that he wanted to continue.

One morning his attorney brought him a huge box of his favorite snack, Chocos. There must have been a hundred packages inside of the box. When he thanked her, she told him they were from a friend of his. He asked if it was Alex, but was surprised again when he was told the snacks were from Eliza. Apparently she had asked to visit, but wasn't allowed so sent the snacks instead. J'onn spent the rest of that day trying to think of something nice to do for her when this was over.

On another day he did get a surprising visitor; Maxwell Lord. J'onn didn't know what to make of that. First Maxwell spent time schmoozing with his guards as if it was important that he gain some measure of goodwill with them. Then he took a look around the house. Afterward he sat across from J'onn at his interview table and joked that this set up looked more comfortable than the cell that he had been locked up in at the DEO.

Maxwell Lord was one of those normal people who J'onn couldn't get any impression of. If he could, J'onn would have read Maxwell's mind as soon as he showed up at the safe house to find out what his ulterior motive was, but J'onn reasoned that he must have been shielding his mind with technological means, as he did during the Myriad incident.

After beating around the bush with small talk, Maxwell asked J'onn if he'd be interested in working on a project with him. J'onn didn't care to even ask what it was and turned him down. Maxwell said that he might come back another time and ask him again. Then he left and J'onn sat wondering how he was able to get permission to visit.

On most days he was visited by representatives from various government agencies. Their attitudes tended to be somewhere on the spectrum of 'mildly hostile' to 'strikingly indifferent'. But they were professional. They never tried to question him without his attorney present.

At first he was questioned about the accuracy of his DEO reports. He did confirm for them that quite a few of them had falsified events. There were simply times when he didn't trust normal human agents to take on certain aliens with high power levels. He would find a way to do it himself.

This continued for a few days. Then a 'mildly hostile' Army officer showed up to ask him questions. This gentleman wanted to know if J'onn knew why their supply of artificial Kryptonite had gone inert. J'onn informed him that when he found out about how General Lane used Kryptonite to torture a prisoner, he decided to have the formula altered. Now it couldn't be used in experimental elixirs and had a far shorter half-life. The United States stock pile had been replaced with the new formula and he hired a civilian contractor to supply what he felt would be needed.

The formula was kept on file only with the DEO, since they were the lead agency to deal with aliens. If J'onn needed a batch he was confident he'd be able to get one, but the government wouldn't be able to stock pile huge amounts of it.

J'onn knew the Army had gathered most of the natural Kryptonite they could find. He couldn't do anything about that, but from the way the officer was acting they must have had a lot less than J'onn originally thought. At that, J'onn shrugged. _Tough break._

As the days of questioning went on, the subjects moved from activities that he had direct input in to activities that he had limited knowledge of. The branches of the DEO that had broken away came up more in these days. He provided what information that he could on those subjects, but once those branches went dark there wasn't much he thought he could do about it without exposing himself.

On a subsequent day, he was questioned about a group of Morae children that were being used by the government. J'onn felt insulted and momentarily thought they might be trying to pin something from outside of the DEO on him. He explained that as director of the DEO he had operatives that he trained himself and he was capable of turning invisible if he needed to. He certainly didn't have a need for child operatives.

On another day of questioning, J'onn came very close to thinking the representatives were joking. They asked him if he knew anything about an alien species called the Vertuallarians. He told them that he didn't, then asked who they were. They were described to him as a symbiotic alien that made their hosts tell the truth but were otherwise kept in jars. To J'onn, it sounded like something from one of those ridiculous old science fiction movies that had cardboard sets. He curiosity piqued, he asked if these aliens operated machines. The reps didn't know. J'onn asked what species these Vertuallarians were hosted by to get to Earth. The reps didn't know. J'onn decided to ask Eliza, Kara, or Alex about them, but for now didn't think they actually existed.

“You do have in a report somewhere that I read minds right?” J'onn asked. “Why would I care about an seeming innocent alien race that sounds suited to be floating in an ocean?”

The representatives looked at each other confused before moving on to other topics.

* * *

On this particular morning, J'onn awoke and found his assigned guards having breakfast while they seemed to be packing up.

“What's going on?”

“We just got the call,” the guard said, ''you're getting moved.”

“Do you know where?”

“Nope. But somebody important has got a bug up their butt to see you.”

Later that morning his attorney arrived and informed him that they were headed to Washington, DC to see the President.

His ride to the safe house had been in a large, SUV. Now he, and his attorney, were taken to an airport in a nicely equipped town car.

“You need to get up to speed. A lot has been happening.” The attorney handed J'onn a tablet.

J'onn started reading through the news items that his attorney had gathered for him. His eyes widened and he asked, “Why weren't you telling me about all of this?”

“I thought it would effect the answers you were giving. I felt my first priority was to try to get you through this a quickly as possible. I think it was the right decision.”

It was something J'onn decided to ponder at a later time because the number of dead government officials he was reading about was staggering. He had met several of the people who held these positions before the recent election.

He began to wonder what the new President was like. All he knew was that she was a former Secretary of the Interior. He wasn't sure if that position was the proving ground for great leaders, but he'd find out for himself soon enough.

After a plane ride and another car ride, J'onn and his attorney arrived at the White House. Before he stepped out of the car, an FBI agent removed the ankle monitor from his leg and then led him through the West Wing. All of the people working in the offices watched as he passed by. Those whose state of mind he could sense projected a vast array of emotions; fear, curiosity, anger, but also relief and indifference.

They arrived at the Oval Office and a secretary opened the door for him. “You can go right in.”

When he entered, he found himself surprised by the individuals who were there. Diana had mentioned Etta Candy and considered her a good friend. He also knew of Joe Atkinson by way of Diana and he appeared older than he had been described. After his experience impersonating Kara, he had been hoping he would never see Cat Grant again, but here she was, eyeing him suspiciously. And finally there was the President, Isabella Sofia Moya. There were some people who J'onn couldn't normally get any sort of emotional read from. The President wasn't one of them. She was strongly projecting two things, a strong sense of general fear and a fixation on Cat Grant.

But J'onn thought she was controlling them well. It couldn't have been easy to be thrust into the situation that she had been. And she obviously had invited him there without asking him to wear any sort of power dampening device. If courage was the ability to overcome fear, then that said something about her that J'onn found comforting.

J'onn sensed that there had been several recent and highly emotional conversations in this room between Isabella and Cat. That he could distinctly sense this among the psychic residue of many other events that had taken place in this room, let J'onn know that these two women had a particularly notable bond. Cat's opinion of what happened tonight in this room was going to carry extra weight.

“Thank you for coming Mr. J'onzz,” the President said. “Please have a seat.”

At the end of the room opposite the President's desk was a fireplace with two chairs in front of it. There was a small space between the chairs and a coffee table on the other side of each of the chairs. On the other side of each of the coffee tables was a couch. The President sat in the chair to the left. J'onn sat in the other chair. Cat took a seat on the couch closest to the President. J'onn got the impression that Cat would have moved the couch closer to Ms. Moya if she could. Joe Atkinson sat on the couch at the opposite end of Cat. J'onn's attorney sat on the couch closest to him and Etta Candy moved a chair from the side of the desk and placed it near Joe before sitting in it.

“So was 'Agent Monroe' one of your aliases?” Cat asked.

Isabella looked at Cat.

“Not really,” J'onn answered. “The DEO was conceived as a covert agency. When agents needed to work publicly, we were permitted to impersonate FBI agents and use similar credentials.”

Cat looked at Isabella. “I met Mr. J'onzz on one of the occasions when Leslie Willis attacked me.”

“Livewire,” Joe added.

“Shape-shifting makes it so easy to impersonate people I would imagine.” Cat had a smirk on her face.

J'onn assumed that meant that Cat had figured out that he had intervened when Kara needed to throw her off the trail of her Kara Danvers identity. _What were the odds that Cat Grant would wind up as the President's Chief of Staff?_ “It's helpful, but only when needed.”

“More than once?”

“I try to protect the privacy of good friends.” J'onn hoped she would take a hint and stop pressing him. He was glad to get some help.

“Mr. J'onzz,” Etta began, “we have a situation that we could use your help with.”

Isabella seemed to study J'onn, perhaps to gauge his response.

“I'm happy to provide what help I can.”

“Why?” Isabella asked.

Her interjection surprised him, causing him to shift his gaze to her from Etta.

“Why help us? Why give us all of this information about your activities? Why put yourself in our custody when not too long before that you were going to be carted off to be tortured? I'm having trouble understanding.”

J'onn wanted to give as honest an answer that he could without compromising people who weren't in the room. But he also sensed that this woman who had been thrust into the Presidency was searching for something. She wasn't a politician. Her emotions were so much on the surface of her mind that it would have been easy for him to read her thoughts and simply give her an answer she wanted to hear. But he didn't.

“I try to help when I can. It's not always in my best interest and it sometimes involves risk. But when I found myself on this planet, I wouldn't have survived without someone's help. It wasn't the last time I found myself in that position. Despite the cruelties that many are capable of, I find that many others are capable of great kindness and generosity. The DEO wanted to hunt me down, but one of their agents helped me and asked me to help him. That gave me the opportunity to help other people and prevent calamities.”

Isabella was listening so he continued.

“I captured and helped to capture beings that were truly dangerous. Many of whom only have a desire for mayhem and destruction.” He thought of Alex and Kara and Eliza, who deserved to have their family reunited. “I've hired people who lost their way and tried to help them.”

“I never wanted to harm the country, that's why I've given you all the information I can. I'm hoping you can give me information that I'm looking for. I'm trying to find a former DEO agent named Jeremiah Danvers. I thought he was dead, but I now think he's being held by your agency Cadmus.”

“We want nothing to do with Cadmus. We want it shut down,” Joe said.

_That's nice._ “Shut it down then.”

“It's not as easy as saying it. We think it's embedded into the government in ways that are difficult to ferret out. We think it's responsible for the deaths of the President and the members of Congress. We think it broke out all of the DEO prisoners.”

“The DEO prisoners are out?”

“Yes.”

“The White Martian?”

“Yes.”

_So that's what they need. They want me to catch all the DEO prisoners. Again._

“Our first priority has to be shutting Cadmus down,” Cat said.

That surprised J'onn. The standard human paranoia about aliens didn't seem as prevalent with them as it was with others. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she continued. “I think they wanted to take over the government.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” Isabella said, “if I had got on Air Force One, then the Secretary of Agriculture would be President right now.”

“Where is he?” J'onn asked.

“As of yesterday, we don't know,” Joe said.

“Almost immediately after we started looking into what Cadmus is connected to, he slipped his security detail and vanished,” Etta said.

“But what about the Congress?”

“We think they are unaware. But enough of the remaining ones have super pacs or companies in their districts that are connected to Cadmus. Enough influence that they possibly have a reliable voting bloc,” Cat said.

“So,” J'onn said, “Cadmus would have weaponized alien abilities, countermeasures for most aliens and metahumans, a puppet President, and a compliant Congress. Then what?”

“We don't want to find out,” Cat answered.

“Who else suspects this?”

“Just us in the room.”

“How are you going to run the government?”

Cat said, “Most of the Cabinet departments have their deputy secretaries still in place and can function. I can run the State Department out of the White House. People will complain, but I don't care. We think we need a new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Defense Secretary. Those departments are where we think most of the Cadmus connections are. We're looking at some 'outside of the box' candidates now. People who can keep the departments in line while we root Cadmus out.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“There's a theory that among your abilities is some level of psychometry,” Joe said.

“Yes.”

“The more connections we can make between anyone or anything connected to Cadmus, the faster we can deal with them,” Joe continued.

J'onn nodded.

“We want you to check out the wreckage from Air Force One, the site in Metropolis, and the site in Tel Aviv. There is no evidence connecting anything yet. But if we're right, someone is covering it up, it can't be detected via normal means, or there is nothing.”

“I'll take a look.”

“We can grant you a full pardon for your activities and United States citizenship for helping us,” Isabella said.

Joe and Etta seemed unsure about the possibility of citizenship.

“We'll make it happen,” Cat said. “We'll say you were performing military service or something similar.”

J'onn saw the confidence of someone who was getting used to bullying government officials on Cat's face. He was definitely going to help them but he started thinking about other issues.

“I want to prioritize rescuing Jeremiah Danvers. I'm confident he's alive.”

“Of course.”

“Madam President, I'd like you to consider something else. There are a lot of aliens here who arrived through no fault of their own. Just refugees who are in hiding because of various factors. Fear of imprisonment, etc. Communities discriminate against them. Some can't find housing. Many want to contribute. They can't go back to where they were from. Can we find some way to help them?”

J'onn could feel all eyes in the room turn toward the President. But she didn't hesitate.

“Yes. I will do that.”

He didn't know what she was going to be able to do. From their own mouths he heard that Cadmus held an unknown level of influence. But he couldn't ask for anything more than her word and she had given it.


	14. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Supergirl - Kara Danvers**

While she was at the Fortress, Kara decided to check on a project she had set up.

It was related to the Red Tornado combat android she had destroyed. Red Tornado was constructed to kill Kryptonians and seemed to be capable of accomplishing it's goal. During her fight with it, Alex killed it's creator T.O. Morrow. Somehow this was linked to the android gaining sentience in a way that Kara was unable to determine.

Even though she had destroyed the android, Kara knew that artificial intelligence had a stubborn way of surviving the destruction of physical forms. So she was running a program in Kal's computer to find out if the Red Tornado A.I could be somewhere in “cyberspace” or somehow be re-assembled.

So far, only three percent of it could be found. Nowhere near enough to establish a rudimentary framework. She left the program running and instructed Kelex to monitor it and notify her if it reached five percent. That would be enough for progress but not reconstruction. She would check it again at that time.

She pulled out the piece of, what she thought was supposed to be, Kryptonite. Even the slight tingle she felt when she had first touched it had diminished. Placing it on a scanner, she began an analysis of it.

It resembled the artificial Kryptonite that the DEO and United States Military used, but the half life had been altered to make it harmless if not used within two or three days of formulation. Kara also remembered the room that Alex had given her combat training in had been equipped with “Kryptonite emitters” that could be adjusted in intensity. It would be impossible to do that with this material.

She didn't know what exactly to make of it, but if it meant that less Kryptonite would be in circulation in a post DEO world she welcomed it. She sealed the inert Kryptonite in a lockbox at the Fortress and wondered about asking the criminal who had tried to rob the armored car where he had gotten it again.

Kara then moved her attention to the primary reason that she had come to the Fortress. It was a gift she had created to complete the set up of James' office. She analyzed the item and smiled as she cataloged her success. The small package was easily tucked into a pocket in her costume and she began to make her way back to National City.

It was just before midday when Kara arrived at the CatCo building. She found James with some of the politics reporters watching an announcement at one of the monitor banks that were set up in the office. A few more people had begun to gather. When Kara walked up to him, it looked as if the President had just completed a few remarks in the White House Press Room. She then introduced her nominee for Defense Secretary and stepped away from the podium. Kara thought she caught a glimpse of Cat standing on the side of the room.

Curtis Metcalf struck a serious and somewhat handsome figure. The ticker at the bottom of the screen announced that if confirmed he would become the first African American Defense Secretary in the country's history.

He had a golden, deep skin tone and his hair was cut short and conservatively. Kara thought he was maybe slightly shorter than James with the build of weightlifter showcased in a well tailored, black suit.

Curtis began to give some standard sounding thanks when one of the reporters standing nearby James said, “Who the hell is this guy?”

“He's from Dakota,” James answered. “Remember the Alva Technologies thing from a while back?”

The reporter thought for a minute. “That company with the weird chemicals, laundered money with drug lords, and sold military items under the table.”

“Yep. Metcalf was,” James paused for a moment as if he were looking for the right word, “the whistle-blower on that. He was the creator of seventy five percent or so of the patents of the company. Started college at age fifteen paid for by the company. Alva was ripping him off. He ended up taking over the company, cleaning it out, and renaming it Metcalf Technologies.”

Kara turned her attention back to the monitor. Curtis had begun taking questions.

In response to one he said, “After my conversation with the President, we've agreed what's needed is a 'reform minded' approach to the Defense Department. There's a lot going on there that's in need of some attention. I'll begin that process at my hearing.”

Some of the reporters in the room looked at each other with mild confusion. One of them asked, “You intend to interview the Senators?”

“Absolutely. Some of them need to answer why they supported certain programs. Since you won't ask them, I'm going to.”

James held back a laugh. No one else seemed to notice when, under his breath, he said, “I wonder if Cat really knows what she just did.”

Kara continued to watch the press conference. Curtis was asked, “Are you referring to something specific.”

He gave the reporter an annoyed look. “Maybe you should start asking around to find out what I might be talking about.”

Kara saw Cat whisper something into the Press Secretary's ear and then the press conference was ended. James started giving some of the reporters and editors some directions, telling them to make sure there are extra people covering the Nomination hearings. He also told them to start interviewing any former Defense Department employee that they can find. Then he began to make his way toward his office.

“Do you know him?” Kara asked, following behind him.

“Yes. And if Cat wants him it means something major is going on. He's a very 'outside the box' pick for a Cabinet position. I need to start having people dig into this.”

They arrived at his office. When Kara saw that Eve had placed the planters where she had been asked to, she decided to change the subject. “I have the last items for your office.”

“Really?” He sounded eager to see it.

“You need to turn on the privacy glass.”

He did so and Kara pulled out the package from her pocket and gave it to him to open. There were four seeds inside. Three of one type and one of another.

“For the planters?” he asked.

“Yes. Drop one of the three in and add a little water.”

He did so and it immediately began to sprout out of the soil. James jumped back a little in response.

“That's going to be an Umbrella tree but I crossbred it with a Kryptonian plant. It'll be full size in a couple of days and with the other two will work better than an air purifier.”

“That's cool.” James put the other two seeds of that type in the other planters in the room and witnessed the same phenomenon. “What's the last seed do?”

“That's for the small pot on your desk.”

James planted it and watched. Nothing happened.

“You'll have to wait til the end of the day for that one.”

“OK I'll keep an eye on it.”

Kara walked over to him and after making sure the privacy glass was secure, gave him a quick kiss. “I'm going to catch up with Alex and see how the police thing is going with her. I'll check in on you later in the afternoon.”

James smiled and nodded at her.

With the privacy glass on, she almost didn't want to leave, but having not spent much time with her sister lately, she was determined to go track her down for a few hours.

The building that Alex was working out of was much larger than Kara was expecting. She had thought that Alex would be given an office at city hall or a desk at one of the precinct offices. From the look of this building, National City was serious about the unit that Alex was setting up.

Approaching from the sky, she could see the helicopter pad on the roof. The building was three levels, with the bottom floor being partially underground. It was built with brick and concrete and had Victorian style lamps attached to the outside. The main entrance had a cutely designed archway. As did all of the windows.

After landing and changing back to her civilian clothes, Kara stood in-front of the stairway leading to the entrance. _I wonder why the city would have trouble selling this property?_

“That place is haunted.”

Kara turned to her right and saw a couple of teenage boys standing about ten feet away on the sidewalk. “Haunted?” she asked.

“Yeah,” the first boy continued. “It's the National City Spirit. It possesses you then eats your brain.”

The other one said, “Stop making stuff up. Why would it eat its own brain.”

“Its not its _own_ brain. Its the brain of the person they possess.”

“Then it would be eating its own brain you boob.”

“Shouldn't the both of you be in school?” Kara asked.

The two youths looked at each other, then turned and ran away.

Kara laughed to herself and then looked up to see Alex standing in the doorway.

“Did you get to hear the ghost story?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. Do those kids hang around here a lot?”

“I've only seen them twice. Come inside.”

They entered the building on the second level. Alex told her that the holding cells had already been installed on the bottom floor. Maxwell Lord was having cells with containment technology installed at the National City County Jail. Super-powered inmates were going to have their own wing to keep them separated from the normal population. But everything was going to be integrated into the incarceration system. No more secret prisons.

“What do you make of the ghost story?” Kara asked.

“Well,” Alex responded and lowered her voice. “One time I came in here and there was a mysterious voice coming from the lower floor.”

“And?”

“It was a homeless person. I bought him some lunch and took him to a shelter.”

Alex had a corner office. It looked drab and was in need of more lighting. There were a few other desks set up. “Were you able to start picking officers?”

“Yes. Finally found some good candidates. And someone from the DEO is coming over.”

“Experience will be good.” After hearing about Alex's initial difficulties, Kara was glad she was going to get some help with this.

There was a lot of space in this building. Kara wondered if she could set up some equipment here. It would be nice to not have to go all the way to the Fortress to work on certain things. She was starting to feel an urge to spend extra time in a lab. Kara also thought of the Fortress as Kal's Fortress and sometimes wanted her own space to work in.

The Fortress was laid out how Jor and Zor would have preferred, but Kal didn't use it to the same extent that their fathers would have. Thinking of Zor and Jor made Kara's heart ache. Part of what she had been doing with James' office was in imitation of what her mother Alura had done with her father's office.

She asked her mother once why she spent so much time in her father's workspace. Alura told her that she wanted Zor to be reminded of her when he was working. While he worked at the desk and chair she gave him, some part of her would always be near him.

She had enjoyed working in the fortress on James' gifts, but now thinking about her lost family made her remember the times she worked alongside her father in his lab. She remembered the times she hacked into Jor's computer all the way in Kryptonopolis. She remembered her confusion at the Science Council's dismissal of Jor's findings. It made her angry and homesick.

“You hungry Kara?” Alex asked.

Her attention snapped back to the present and, grateful for Alex's presence ,she smiled at her. “Of course.”

“I don't know why I asked. You're always hungry.”

They made their way toward the exit.

“There's a place a few blocks down the street that serves these greasy tacos that I know you're going to love.”

Her stomach growled at the thought of how many of them she could scarf down. Kara's anticipation grew as they walked and she thought she could smell the restaurant that Alex was referring to. Then she noticed that they were walking silently.

“What's up?” Kara asked.

“Hmm?”

“You're pretty quiet all of a sudden.”

They walked a few steps further quietly and then Alex said, “Remember when you saved the plane I was on?”

“Yes!” Kara could clearly remember that event. She could still barely believe she was able to guide the plane to a safe soft landing. She remembered the taste of the pizza she had devoured while sitting on the couch with her hair still wet. Even now she could feel her heart beating.

“I'm sorry I scolded you. I remember being so scared for you. And it wasn't just about the DEO.”

They kept walking.

Alex said, “And it wasn't about the Fort Rozz aliens or.”

They kept walking, but Kara saw that Alex had closed her eyes. There was a bus stop bench nearby. Kara guided her over to it and sat down beside her; to her left. She wanted to say something to fill the gap, but then thought it would be better not to. Alex had something she needed to say. An apology maybe. Kara thought it would be best just to let her talk; let her say what she needed to.

“Sometimes it was about that. I was scared you would get hurt. Not just by aliens, the Fort Rozz aliens. But by people's hate. And you were right. We told you everyday not to be who you were.”

A couple of tears rolled down Alex's face. Kara wanted to wipe them away, but didn't.

“And I was jealous. I was jealous when you moved in with us and I was jealous when you decided to be who you were regardless of what happened after. And you won. You beat the bad guys. You saved the city. You got the man you wanted. You're the hero of the story.”

Kara put her right arm around her and let her keep talking.

“But there was a small part inside that was proud of you for insisting on being who you are.”

Kara looked at her and watched her try to clear her eyes.

“Kara, I think I'm gay.” Alex's face grimaced for a moment. “Kara, I _know_ I'm gay. I know it.”

Alex leaned just so slightly toward Kara. Kara immediately pulled her into a hug. Partially to comfort her, but also for another reason. Kara felt a surge of a raw emotion inside her and she needed to hide it right now. It wasn't what her sister needed.

Kara was angry. Angry about a society that made people feel shame about who they really were. Angry that her sister had been brought to tears by the admission or realization that she was gay. Angry about people who sneered at other people about sex. It was infuriating. Alex was gay, Kara was pan, others could step off a cliff.

Kara felt that Alex had chosen to reveal this despite fear and discomfort. She chose defiance. It wasn't the first time. Kara knew it wouldn't be the last.

“Alex, don't forget you've saved me too. More than once.” Kara looked her in the eye. “Remember when you saved me from orbiting the planet as a frozen popsicle?”

Alex smiled and nodded.

“You're a hero in this “story” too. I've looked up to you many times; including right now.”

Kara handed her some tissues she had in her pocket.

“And I'm proud of you.”

After Alex took a few moments to take care of her face and compose herself, Kara stood up.

“Let's get some tacos before the restaurant closes.”

Alex laughed and stood up. They continued on the path to taco gluttony. But the walk was still silent. Kara looked at Alex and saw that she was lost in thought about something. Or someone. There was a girl. _Was that what prompted this?_ It was part of it, but not all of it. _Maybe not even most of it_ , Kara thought.

Kara saw an Alex Danvers who had decided to take charge of who she is and wants to be.

 _I wonder what type of ladies catch Alex's eye?_ Kara looked forward to being able to talk about such matters with her.

The restaurant happened to have a jukebox that was filled with old N'SYNC songs. They pumped it full of spare change and ate tacos. Alex had two and a glass of lemonade. Kara had eight, a cup of nachos, and a glass of strawberry lemonade. They enjoyed light conversation about insignificant topics. They were loud enough to attract attention from the cashier and a few of the customers, who could only smile at the two of them being goofy.

Kara decided to have a 'girls night in' with Alex sometime soon. Maybe then she would find out about the object of her sister's curiosity.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set when Kara went back to the CatCo offices.

Feeling good after her time with Alex and flying around the city assisting people with minor problems, she wandered the offices. She relaxed the range of her senses and allowed herself to take in the sounds, smells, and vibrations of the subdued evening activity of her surroundings.

Aleeka was in James' office reviewing some financial information with him. Kara made her way in that direction. They were just finishing up when Kara entered. Aleeka greeted her professionally as she walked past her to leave. A few moments later, Kara turned on the privacy glass and locked the double door.

James gave her a big, beautiful smile. “I've had to tell a lot of people that Supergirl brought me some Kryptonian plants for my office.”

Kara looked to see the plants in the planters had grown to about a third of what she suspected their full size would be. There was already a slight improvement of the air quality.

“They sprout an inch or at random moments. Eve nearly jumped out of her skin when it happened the first time. I couldn't help but laugh about it,” James continued.

Kara walked at a slow pace toward his desk.

“Now this,” James said as he picked up the small pot on his desk, “is something.” The plant had grown and bloomed nicely. Kara had genetically altered an African Violet. The leaves were oval and she had changed the color of the petals. There were other alterations to the plant as well.

“Do you like it?”

James seemed to check that the door was locked. Then he alternated his view between her and the plant a few times. “The flower matches the color of your eyes. Exactly.” He then brought the plant closer to his face and inhaled. “And it smells like your body wash.” He looked up at her standing in front his chair now. “It's incredible. I love it.”

Kara sat on his desk in front of him and placed her legs outside of his.

He slowly stood up to put the plant back on his desk. “How is Alex do..”

She interrupted him by pulling him to her and giving him a soft kiss.

When she stopped, he said, “You smell like greasy tacos.”

“Alex is fine. We had tacos. Delicious tacos. I had eight of them.”

“Not good for you.”

She put her finger on his chest. “Not good for _you._ Great for me.”

They then began to kiss more urgently.

After eating with Alex and between superheroing, Kara had been reminiscing about trysts she had enjoyed in college. Something about Alex's coming out made her think of those days. Events she had never spoken about with anyone. Including three freshmen, one male and two female, who after some gentle persuasion had happily given her their virginity.

They had quickly learned how she liked her sex. Remembering the way she made them scream for her again and again had aroused her. By the time she undid James' tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and pushed it down his shoulders she was aflame with anticipation.

James had learned faster than anyone. Now all she needed to do was apply a slight amount of pressure on his left shoulder with the palm of her hand. He immediately slipped down her body, pulled her pants, panties, and shoes off, and put his mouth exactly where it needed to be.

“Ohhh,” she whispered. _It's like you haven't eaten all day._ “Ohhh.”

His hands were warm, his mouth was cool, his tongue was fast, and soon her head was spinning. She had imagined the first time they made love in this office would go differently. Minute after minute of pleasuring had her focused only on reality.

She felt a bit of suction and a finger. A storm of ecstasy suddenly swept over her. Her body quivered with almost uncontrollable delight and she could barely keep from screaming. She held him to her womanhood as the storm swept from her toes to her forehead repeatedly.

Finally it passed and when he stood, she could see his manhood straining against his pants.

“I didn't bring..”

She interrupted him by opening a hidden drawer in the desk that was overstocked with condoms.

“OK then.”

Soon their bodies were joined, with her on the edge of the desk. They moved against each other with passion. Then she moved him backward into the chair and demonstrated why she chose a reinforced one with no armrests. She kissed his earlobe and told him how much she loved him while she bounced in his lap.

James looked at her and started gasping. It was only then she remembered how loud he could get. She kept him as quiet as possible by holding her right hand over his mouth when he came.

Kara watched him as he breathed heavily in recovery. “Mmm, baby. Now hurry up and get dressed.” He rose and began to adjust himself. While they fixed their clothing, the look she saw in his eyes communicated that he knew they were nowhere near done for the evening.

She thought about flying him to her place from the office, but with people having seen her enter as Kara decided against it. So she took him by the hand and exited his office toward the staircase.

They passed one of the department heads who asked, “Hey James, what's with those freaky plants in your office?” She pulled him onward before he could even think about stopping to answer.

When she was assured that her identity would remain intact, she didn't waste anytime getting them to her apartment and into bed. Wrapped loosely in her sheets and with her on top they continued their lovemaking. His hands gripped her backside tightly and guided their movements. He pumped into her from below until she found herself once again enjoying the pleasure of orgasm.

As she often did, she awoke during the night wanting more love. She innocently embraced him in a way she knew would arouse him. Then she took pleasure in slowly pushing him to the pinnacle. Soon, the sound of his heavy breathing signaled that he wasn't going to last much longer.

“C'mon, let me hear it,” she said.

It was just how she loved it. She held him down on the bed by his biceps while he trembled. He moaned at the top of his lungs, telling her how much he loved her and how good she felt. She was triggered again, groaning as she moved forcefully against him. And when their lovemaking was done they slept happily.


	15. Cat Grant

**Cat Grant**

Cat strutted through the West Wing hallway toward her office.

She passed by a few more people than she expected to see on a Sunday, but the White House was never completely empty so she paid it no mind. One of the young interns approached her as she walked. Cat thought the girl was a mess. Just because it was the weekend didn't mean that one shouldn't put in the effort.

“Good morning Ms Grant.”

“Good morning Raquel.”

“I'm Rachel Ms. Grant. I put that background information together for you and gave it to your secretary.”

“That's great Raquel. Have you ever tried La Mer Creme de La Mer?”

The intern shook her head.

“Oh it works wonders for the face. An excellent moisturizer.”

They arrived at the secretary's desk outside of Cat's office. The intern started touching her face gently.

“I need a bean omelet,” Cat said to her secretary. Then she turned to the intern. “That's all Raquel.”

After a few moments, the intern went back to her duties. _Poor thing,_ Cat thought. She entered her office and sat at her desk.

Cat turned on her monitor. So far the Sunday political press had been muted in criticism of Isabella's 'performance' at the funeral. There was plenty of talk about Curtis Metcalf's confirmation hearings. Because he had gotten very aggressive in responding to the questions he was getting, a few of the Senators had been forced to give press conferences to explain why they voted for or supported initiatives that were connected to questionable activities. Cat knew it was all connected to Cadmus, but for now it was enough that the matters were being investigated.

The nomination of General Steve Trevor for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was going over very well. His credentials were unassailable and he also had been a bit of a whistle-blower. From what Cat could tell, his confirmation would be very comfortable. Maybe it was his blindingly bright teeth. The man seemed to have a genetically engineered smile.

Unprompted, Cat took a moment to chuckle inwardly at the revelation that the young college grad who worked as her personal assistant at CatCo had not only turned out to be Supergirl, as she had once suspected, but had gotten a shape-shifting Martian to impersonate her and thrown Cat off the trail. Cat looked forward to the next time she talked to Kara.

She continued to reminisce about CatCo while she enjoyed her breakfast. She missed it, but not in the way she thought she might. She had worked so long and hard to build CatCo into what it was about to become, yet here she was in the White House dealing with a completely different type of large and unwieldy organization. There were times that she had envied Perry, Clark, and Lois from the Daily Planet and set her mind on surpassing them. She had succeeded, but she had done so by playing to her own unique strengths; her organizational skill, her business acumen.

The thought dawned on her that she was simply different than they were. They were the purest of pure journalists. Perry White was a maniac; obsessive, diligent, and practically living in his messy office. Lois Lane was Perry times ten. It was probably why he indulged her pushing of boundaries. Somehow, someway Clark Kent kept up. The way he could leverage Midwestern charm, politeness, and handsomeness always impressed Cat. He somehow got access to information that no one else could have. And he was always in the right place at the right time; almost as if the man could fly.

Cat had always compared her achievements to theirs; taking pride in scooping them on the occasions that she could. But those particular moments had been few and far between and she wondered if the comparison had been senseless.

Cat turned her attention to some background information on candidates for Attorney General that she had been discussing with Isabella. She picked up several folders that she had laid on top of a biography of Lyndon B Johnson that she recently read. Then she buzzed her secretary and told her to call up to the residence to let the President know she was going to come up in ten to fifteen minutes.

“The President is in a meeting in the Oval Ms. Grant.”

_A meeting? I didn't schedule a meeting for her today. What is she doing?_ Cat stared for a moment at the door that led from her office to the Oval Office, wondering what she might find on the other side. Not one to hesitate, Cat simply entered as she normally would.

President Moya was dressed casually, wearing a jacket with the Seal of the President on it and sitting in a chair between the Oval Office desk and the two couches in the room. There were three people from the Office of Legislative Affairs in the room and three other people that Cat didn't recognize. There was a tray of breakfast burritos on the table in front of them.

“This is my Chief of Staff, Cat Grant. Sit with us Cat. You'll need to hear about this too.”

Cat's eyes widened. _Hear about what? What are you up to?_ Cat looked at her tablet for what she knew wasn't there. “You didn't have any meetings scheduled today Madam President.”

“I know. I called these folks from the Immigration Reform Council to ask some questions. They came right over.”

_Lobbying groups tend to want to see you when you're the President._ Cat took a seat and listened in on the conversation with this one.

It turned out that Isabella had followed through on J'onn J'onzz's request by asking the group about how to help aliens. The group had taken the opportunity to explain that many, if not all, of the problems that she had brought up about aliens were ones that human undocumented immigrants were dealing with as well.

They then began making suggestions to reform immigration law and Isabella became more and more interested in what they were saying. Cat decided that she needed to pull Isabella out of this meeting before she started making promises that she might not be able to keep. But Isabella was either not understanding or ignoring the hints Cat gave her that they had agreed upon to get her out of these types of conversations.

As the conversation went on, they began to discuss sweeping changes to immigration and other laws to fix the situation. Cat tried to mentally calculate if any of these proposals could be passed in Congress. There wasn't anything she heard that she thought could get a majority vote.

Isabella sat listening as a huge immigration reform law was proposed. The law was loosely organized into five sections. First there would be a citizenship section; a path to citizenship for adults who were in the country that involved paying a fine and back taxes. Children who were brought through no control of their own would be granted citizenship once this was somehow proven. Second, access to voting would be strengthened for this population with protections for everyone. “After all,” one of the advocates had said, “the easier it is for everyone to vote, the easier it would be for these folks as well.” Third, it would strengthen the United States Commission on Civil Rights and broaden its mandate to aliens and immigrants; allegations of rights violations would be investigated, reported on, and recommendations for additional laws would be made to Congress and the President. Fourth, it would prohibit the segregation of public schools and facilities based on immigration, alien and non alien, status. Finally, a large monetary fund for needed appropriations would be provided; for example if a hospital needed extra resources to provide for unusual health needs or if food banks that served these populations needed extra money.

Cat sat silently while the group continued their discussion of the matter. _Do you people realize how much of an endeavor it would take to get this thing passed?_ Apparently it didn't as they continued to talk and chow down on the now cold burritos. Isabella decided to end the meeting sending the folks from the Legislative Affairs Office to draw it up and bring it to her in legislative form for a look. While Isabella shook the hands of the advocates, Cat followed the White House employees out of the room as they were eager to get to work.

When they had gotten away from the Oval Office, Cat called to them, “Hey!”

Shocked to have her attention, they turned toward her.

“Make sure I get a copy of that before you give it to the President.”

“But she said..”

“If I didn't hear what she said, then I wouldn't be telling you to make sure I got a copy first.”

They shrugged then went to their offices to get to work.

Cat went back to the Oval Office, but found that Isabella was no longer there. She had more than likely gone back to the residence. Cat was glad of that for the moment. She wasn't sure how she would explain that what they were discussing was unlikely to ever see life as a law. Isabella clearly wanted to do something to help with what was a bad situation, but was running up against poor timing.

Cat decided to give her a 'fallback option'. There were probably quite a few things she could do to help by way of executive orders. Those would last at least as long as she held the office. Possibly longer. Cat thought there would at least be a reluctance to change an entrenched policy.

In her office, she waited for the bill from the staffers. It arrived quicker than she thought it would have considering the size of it. Looking through it, she thought it contained a lot of good items. In light of the current situation that Isabella was presiding over, it was a “pie in the sky” wish list. On the other hand, Cat thought it was a great example of reform. A collection of ideas produced by good heads and prompted by good hearts.

But if Isabella presented this and it failed, her presidency would be seen as weak, maybe even dead with almost a full term ahead of her. With everything going on with Cadmus, Cat questioned the risk. It was one thing to not pass a law, another to leave the country vulnerable to fascists and bigots. _And what about me?_ There was a part of Cat that wanted to put Isabella on good footing and then get back to CatCo. And there was another part of Cat that wanted to stay near her. She did enjoy power and found that she couldn't imagine having more abstract power than she had right now. But Cat knew it wasn't just political power that was occupying her mind.

Something changed when Isabella grabbed onto her arm in that hotel room. Something about her priorities had changed and it wasn't simply out of a sense of patriotic duty. It excited her to be so needed. It gave her a sense of purpose that she somehow wasn't quite familiar with

It also surprised her that she wasn't concerned with James' 'saber rattling' at CatCo. Since she had brought James into CatCo he had behaved, with very few exceptions, exactly as she had thought he would.

Cat turned her attention back to preparing the stack of executive orders that would be a most a weak imitation of the proposed law and at worst a massive disappointment. _If only we had a different congress to work with._

“Cat!” Isabella yelled out. “Do you have that bill the staff was putting together?”

Cat looked up to see she left the door leading from her office to the Oval Office open. She gathered what the staff had produced and her own documents and prepared herself to deliver disappointment to her friend. Cat hoped her 'fallback option' would provide some comfort and allow her to feel some satisfaction in doing what she could.

She entered the office to see Isabella sitting at the desk signing some papers. Cat had to admit that Isabella had begun to look more comfortable in the last few days. As if she had found a way to fit into the seat she occupied. Even if some news outlets didn't agree, Cat did.

Isabella looked up. “Look what I found.” She pulled out an antique carrying case that had a chess set inside of it. The case, the board, and the pieces were all hand carved. “It was in the residence. We should play a game.”

Cat remembered that for about two months in college Isabella had become fascinated by chess, wanting to play at every opportunity. But she never did learn to play very well. “Right now?”

“Yes. Isn't that the type of thing that Presidents do?”

“Some of them. Let's find out if its the type of thing that _you_ should be doing.”

Isabella smirked at her and set up the game on the table between the two couches.

Cat sat all of the papers beside her on the couch and began to play. After a few minutes, she thought that Isabella was using her pawns too much. “Why didn't you ask me to set up that meeting with the immigration group for you?”

“I got the impression that it wasn't something you wanted me to pursue? There wasn't exactly a feeling of excitement in the air when I told J'onn I would help.”

_Well, that's true._ When Isabella told J'onn that she would “do that.” Cat remembered thinking, _do what?_ “I'm concerned about trying to do too much,” Cat said. But that wasn't exactly true. Cat continued, “I don't think the types of things you were talking about can get through Congress.”

“Impossible?” Isabella said. Then she took a pawn and made an wildly illegal move.

“What is that? Are you trying to cheat? Put that back?” Cat flexed her brow and her eyes darted back and forth between the chess piece and Isabella's face.

Isabella made a proper move with the piece. “Impossible?”

Cat felt a need to check the position of all of the pieces. “It's just not so simple. It never is.”

They played on for a few minutes. “What is that?” Isabella asked, gesturing toward the stack of possible executive orders that Cat had prepared.

“I looked at the bill you had prepared.” Cat handed her the stack of papers. “In looking through it, this is what I think you can do by executive order.” Cat watched her read through the stack. “It's what there is.”

Isabella put the papers down beside her and picked up a chess piece. She spent some time examining it. She completed her move and said, “I can't settle for that.”

Cat exhaled and examined the board. They played on and Cat thought it would take time for Isabella to come to terms with the constraints they were faced with.

“What do I say to someone like J'onn when I present that as my response?”

“You say that we rebuilt the Executive Branch, eliminated a major conspiracy, helped a lot of people, and provided steady leadership.” Cat held one of the pieces in her hand and waived it slightly above the board before completing her move. “Those aren't small things.” Cat methodically captured piece after piece, closing in on victory.

“You're right Cat,” Isabella said as she examined the board for her next move. “This may not be the type of game I should be playing.”

“I didn't say it like that.” Cat's victory was starting to look certain.

Isabella stood up and walked over to the desk and just looked at it.

“You can roll these out, one a week. It'll help with the Cadmus stuff we're doing because it'll disguise how much we are trying to flush them out.”

“Do you think this law is something that we _should_ do? That it will help a lot of people?”

“I do. But I don't think this congress will pass it.” Cat said.

“That's not what you said before. You said 'it's just not so simple.' Are you just trying to take the easy road here?”

Cat was bothered to hear Isabella say that. “How can you say that to me? My kids have a Secret Service detail and I could walk away whenever I wanted.”

“I'm sorry Cat. I know you've made sacrifices. And if you hadn't, I'm not sure what I'd be doing right now. But my conscience won't let me set this aside.”

Cat watched her walk around the desk and sit in the chair. Isabella took a moment to stare past her at the chess board before turning her attention back to Cat. “I think,” she paused for a moment. “I'm _going_ to try to make this happen.”

Cat knew she had made up her mind. She thought that Isabella had probably decided when J'onn asked her for help and was only now saying it out loud. She stood up and walked over the the front of the desk.

“Are you going to help me Cat?”

For some reason, Isabella had made her think of Kara. She remembered the times Kara was standing in front of her, of course unbeknownst to Cat, taking in her criticisms; criticisms of Supergirl. Cat wondered where Supergirl would be now if fate hadn't seen fit to place the young lady in her presence. _Clearly Kara heard what I had to say in a positive way. Look at her now._

“You're asking for the type of fight you've never seen. Some people are going to hate this.”

“If it includes those Cadmus people then good. Besides that, when have you ever been concerned about a fight?”

Cat retrieved the bill from the couch and went back to the desk. She looked it over again with more strategic eyes. She thought Isabella was as ready as she could be for this but that she wasn't fully cognizant of what could be in store. _How could she be?_

“If this needs me to do something odd or weird, I'll do it,” Isabella said.

“I haven't said anything about what it might take yet.”

“But you have an idea.”

Cat looked up from the binder to see Isabella watching her.

“I asked you if it was impossible twice,” Isabella said. “You didn't say it was. So I think you think there's a way, you're just concerned about it.”

She had part of an idea. It wasn't anywhere near concrete enough to talk about. “You have to trust me with it,” Cat said. “No sneaky meetings with advocacy groups. No panicking if you hear strange things about your 'legislative priorities'.”

“Will you give me a promise that you'll do what you have to do to get it passed?”

Cat took a breath. _I guess I'm going to have to, or else,_ she thought, _or else I don't know what._ “Yes,” she said while nodding.

Isabella rose from the chair and quickly moved around the desk. She wrapped Cat up in a tight hug. “Thank you Cat.” If it was anyone else she might have scraped them off of her. But this hug felt surprisingly comfortable. “I'm going back to the residence.” With that, Isabella left the office.

_Well, she's learned to leave the room when she gets the answer she wants._

Still reeling from surprise, Cat stood there for a moment. Then she took all of her documents back to her office. “I need a lettuce wrap,” she said to her secretary. She sat at her desk and started trying to imagine how to make what the President wanted become a reality.

_If only we had a different congress to work with._

There were many seats in the House and the Senate that needed to be filled. But that was a process controlled by Governors and Political Party Chiefs.

_Or was it?_


	16. James Olsen

**James Olsen**

James was sitting as his desk when he found out that one of CatCo's new local affiliates had broken a story.

An entire Operational Detachment of a United States Army Special Forces Group had been arrested. The allegation was that they had divulged classified information. As he looked over the story there was something familiar about one of the soldiers who had been arrested. James couldn't put his finger on it, so he contacted the affiliate station and asked for more information on the story to be emailed over to him.

He looked over the information on the soldiers. It turned out that the one that James thought was familiar had been under the command of General Sam Lane. He was with Lane on several of the occasions that Lane had run ins with Clark. There was nothing about Sam Lane in the report, so James wondered if this soldier, or any of the others arrested, were currently under General Lane's command.

There was someone he thought he might be able to ask, but he was reluctant to contact that person. At one point they had been very close, or so it seemed. What he thought could have been a strong relationship with her paled in comparison to what he was feeling for Kara.

He pulled out his cell phone, but laid it on his desk and became lost in thought. Asking himself what Lucy Lane had meant to him, he was frustrated by his lack of an easy answer. Their initial relationship felt like a distant, cloudy memory. It was more like the infatuation of two teenagers rather than a coupling of two adults.

She had cared enough to come to National City in pursuit of him. And the sight of her had made him angry. He admitted to himself that it was true. He had hidden it, but he was angry. He didn't know why she would dump him if she was going to come out to National City to get him back.

He had just returned from wherever he had been with Clark and his friend from Gotham. He had barely been back at the Planet for five minutes before he was in a private conference room and Lucy was arguing with him.

James looked up to see the people walking about in front of his office. He didn't want them looking at him so he turned the privacy glass on.

Lucy had told him that there was a function that he had promised to attend with her. When he didn't show she had to listen to her father chastise her for the duration of the evening. She asked what had been so important. James could still feel the accusatory tone. He had been with Superman. It must have been important. This time the guy from Gotham was there.

“ _Superman again,”_ she had said. “ _What this time?”_ She had asked.

He hadn't been able to remember and she wasn't really waiting for an answer anyway. There was something angry, frustrated, painful in her that simply continued to rise.

He tried now to remember. _What were we doing?_

And he heard screams. Screams that echoed in a cold hall. Screams so loud he covered his ears. Screams so hard his bones hurt. He closed his eyes. There were purple colored flashes behind his eyelids.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing. There was a sensation on his back, as if he had been lying on something cold. He remembered a voice. The voice he hated. _“Yeah, you're pretty tough. For a photographer that is.”_ He remembered a sound, like a drill. _“But it won't help you.”_ He felt a hand on his shoulder.

He whirled around and found nobody. Just an empty office with his phone on the desk.

James sat at his desk and looked at his phone. Lucy's contact information was up and ready to be dialed.

It had been doomed to fail. Even when they had rekindled their relationship he was still besieged by a deep anger that he wouldn't allow himself to show. He once thought that he had been angry at Sam Lane, but now he knew he hadn't really cared one bit about Sam Lane's annoying presence. It had been just enough to bring his true anger closer to the surface. He was angry at Lucy because she hadn't noticed. He balled his fist and resisted banging the desk. He was angry at himself because he couldn't figure out what Lucy was supposed to notice.

He needed to make this call and get it over with. She answered on the first ring.

“Hello James.”

“Hi Lucy. How have you been?”

“Are you calling to ask about my father?”

“Well, not directly,” James paused. He had neglected to think about how he was going ask about the soldiers and somehow been put on his heels by the tone of Lucy's voice. He thought to himself that he should have known better than to make the call unprepared. It wasn't as if he had never interviewed someone before.

Lucy interrupted, “Isn't it enough that he was put on suspension by that new president and relieved of his duties?”

James' eyebrows rose in response. “I didn't know that? When?”

“And your Martian friend is flying around free as if he didn't do _anything_ compromising national security at all.”

_J'onn's out?_ James thought. Then he remembered about Cadmus and some of the stories that Clark had told him. “Cadmus would have dissected him. And what about Alex? Is that what you wanted?” He wasn't sure if that was fair. He could feel himself preparing for an argument he didn't call to initiate. But it didn't come. Lucy hung up.

_That went well._ James was left to find a way to confirm if J'onn was no longer in custody and if so why he hadn't let anyone know.

James exited the office to see that a crowd of CatCo employees were gathered at a set of monitors. There was live coverage of a black SUV forced off the road. Two military helicopters were circling the vehicle and several heavily armed men approached with weapons drawn. The caption on the screen said, “Secretary of Defense Nominee Under Attack.”

The nomination hearings had gone on and on, every day seeming to spark a new investigation into Defense department activities. It looked like someone decided they were tired of it.

Kara had popped up beside him long enough so see what was about to happen. When she moved to get away from the crowd so she could take off to help, James grabbed her arm.

“But..”

James shook his head. “No need. These guys are really stupid.”

Winn moved over to him and gave him a strange look.

“Wait for it.”

The armed men fired their automatic weapons into the SUV. The gunfire went on for minutes. Then one of the helicopters fired what looked like a grenade at the vehicle. The explosion lifted it into the air and when if fell back to the ground it was in two pieces. The employees near James cried out in shock. The commentator loudly said, “Who is responsible for this ruthless murder?”

Then a figure coated in shiny black, wearing a helmet and high tech shoulder pads climbed out of the wreckage.

“What the hell is that?” the commentator said. The CatCo employees returned their attention to the monitors and more of them had gathered.

“This is that Hardware guy?” Winn asked. “From Dakota right?”

“Yep,” James nodded. Knowing it was Curtis Metcalf all along, but not knowing that someone was going to try to kill him in broad daylight. But the man did have a way of making people lose their common sense.

A configuration of armor and armaments came out of Hardware's shoulder pads and began to enclose his body.

“Oh!” Kara cried out. “Looks like a plasticized, metal alloy bonded to his skin. It'll take a lot more than standard weaponry to get through that. He should be well protected.”

Winn took a closer look at the screen and then nodded his head in agreement.

“The alloy looks like it replicates actual muscle.” Kara continued. It was one of the few times she seemed impressed by earth technology. “He's probably fifty times stronger than a normal man in that.”

The armed men got within eight feed of Hardware and started unloading their weapons again. The bullets struck the alloy bonded to his skin and fell harmlessly to the ground.

With a heavily modulated voice, Hardware said, “I'll be with you jackasses in a moment.” A cannon of some sort formed on his right forearm and he aimed it at one of the helicopters. It fired a shell that struck the helicopter just behind it's passenger section. What was left of it had no hope of staying in the air and immediately fell to the ground with a crash. The second helicopter got the exact same treatment. The personnel manning the vehicles were rendered unconscious and injured in the crashes. One staggered around on fire.

The men who had been firing at Hardware looked at their now destroyed air cover with shock.

Hardware said, to the closest one, “There's barbecue left over for you too,” and blasted him with a shoulder mounted flamethrower. The target fell to the ground and rolled around screaming.

James heard Kara gasp. He continued to watch with a small amount of amazement at the brutality being dished out.

The other armed men tried to run, but as they took off in the same direction, Hardware only needed to fire one explosive shell from the cannon mounted on his forearm to put them all on the ground.

The broadcast continued as Hardware walked over to the man on fire and watched him flail on the ground. “Bet you wish you turned this job down now don't you?” Mercifully, he hit him with an extinguisher and police officers arrived on the scene a few minutes later.

After collecting the beaten men, one of the officers asked Hardware to come with them to complete a statement.

“Sorry, I'm late for a hearing.”

He walked over and picked one of the formerly armed men up by the neck. “I'm going to take this one with me. I'll drop him off after the hearing.”

The man hopelessly struggled against Hardware's grip. “You better let me go right now.”

To James, the man looked pretty tough. He had dirty blonde hair and you could see the anger in his eyes. He reminded James of one of those Navy SEAL types. At least he did until Hardware slapped him across the face with the back of his other hand, sending blood and several of his teeth into the street.

“Did I ask you a question?”

The now broken man offered no answer or resistance. His face appeared to now have permanent damage and his arms hung helplessly at his sides. Hardware let him go and he fell to the ground. Hardware then grabbed him by the collar from the back, like one would a child that they wanted to pull off the playground. Boot jets propelled him into the air toward the capitol building.

“Where's he going?” Winn asked.

James thought for a second. “I think he's going to take that guy to the hearing with him.”

“Oh man. I know what I'm watching for the rest of the day.” Winn scurried back to his desk. James hoped he'd get some work done today. Now that the 'action' had ended, most of the other CatCo employees went back to their normal duties.

He noticed that Kara had vanished, which meant that someone, somewhere near needed Supergirl's help; so he made his way back to his office to continue working.

A few hours later, James received a phone call. The caller id indicated it was from the White House. He watched it ring for a moment. _Oh crap. It's probably Cat._ Sometimes during the day, James would take a moment to think about what might be going on in the executive branch. Having met the current president and watched her recent performance at the funeral, he suspected Cat was micromanaging more things than could ever be cataloged. He answered the phone.

“Hello,”

It was Cat. “Is your friend Toyman Jr still employed there?”

“Yes. Winn is here.”

“Get him, go someplace private, and call the number I'm about to give you.”

James took down the number, concluded the call, and turned his phone off. Hoping he wasn't about to get pulled into some government shadiness, he went out to Winn's desk. Winn was still watching the confirmation hearing while working. Nearly everyone in the hearing room was shouting an accusation at everyone else. For entertainment value, it was the best that James had seen come out of the Senate.

“Winn, come with me.”

Winn stumbled out of his chair and followed James to the staircase.

“Tell me your phone as some sort of extra encryption on it.”

“Well, yeah. Can't be too careful with the government surveillance of networks.”

They reached the stairwell and began to ascend. “Give it to me.”

Winn did so. “Who do you need to call?”

“The White House.”

“Wait. What?”

James explained that Cat needed them to contact her. When they reached the office that Winn had set up as an operations center, James made the call.

“He's there with you now?”

“Yes.”

“Put the phone on speaker.” After he did so, Cat said, “Wallace?”

It took a moment for Winn to realize that Cat was talking about him. “Yes?”

“Is it possible to identify everyone who is eligible to hold a Senate or House seat, who would vote a particular way on a particular issue, who has never publicly stated a position on such issue?”

“Sure, probably take some time, do some interviews. Lot of work to identify a few people.”

“I have a week, maybe.”

“Huh. But you'd need a computer program, an algorithm to try to figure out what someone thinks about something they've never discussed.”

Cat sighed. “Gee Wallace. Is that a fact? That must be why I'm talking to someone who speaks computer.”

_Oh god,_ James thought. _Cat's going to try to stack Congress with loyalists._ He thought again for a moment. _Wait, she said 'a particular issue'. She needs to get a law passed. But they've got more Cabinet positions to fill. That's why she said she has a week. She needs it now._

“So what would it take Wallace?”

“Well,” Winn began talking while thinking, “access to writings, video footage, government documents if they hold other offices, whatever is available. I mean only people who speak a lot and produce a lot of paperwork would have enough material to generate the possibility.”

James said, “You'd have to check everyone in the country who holds a public office. State reps, county officials, trustees, business owners, pastors maybe, mayors, political appointees.”

“That's a lot of information to sort through.”

“That's why she's calling you, Winn.”

“I don't know anybody named Winn. What kind of name is that anyway? Wallace you're hired.”

“I am?”

“Get him ready James. The FBI is going to pick you up in two hours Wallace. Pack whatever you need to pack, but leave your toys on the desk there. And this conversation never happened.” Cat then hung up.

Winn looked at James. “But. What? The White House?”

James saw a nervous man, but nowhere near as afraid as the President he had recently met. Kara had been right. James had already decided to help Cat with whatever she needed.

“Winn. You have to do this.”

“Why?” Winn's eyes narrowed.

“They specifically need you. I don't know everything that's going on out there. But I know they need you. You defeated a Coluan, a version of Brainiac. You're what they need.”

Winn still seemed hesitant.

“You should look at this as if the President herself was asking for your help.” _Because she is._ “The President says she needs you.”

Kara entered the room and shut the door behind her. “What are you two doing up here?”

“Winn just got hired to work at the White House.”

Kara sprouted a huge smile. “Congratulations Winn.” She gave him a hug. “You must be excited.”

“Uh. Yeah?”

“His ride is coming in a couple of hours. Could you fly him to his place so he can pack some things?”

“Sure.”

James shook his hand and then gave him a hug. “Good luck. I know you'll get the job done.”

After another moment, Winn seemed to understand his fate. “OK,” he said before leaving the room with Kara.

After taking a look around the room, James was left with two things on his mind. He was unsure if this room was needed and he was unsure who he could hire as a replacement IT for Winn.


	17. Supergirl - Kara Danvers

**Supergirl – Kara Danvers**

Kara was hoping to catch up with Alex before her day got busy, but when she arrived at her workplace there was more activity going on than she was anticipating.

There were a few cars in the lot, so Kara assumed that some of the officers that Alex had recruited were on the premises. Peering through the walls, Kara saw that Alex had been able to get Vasquez and Hartmann from the DEO. But there were four others on the premises that she didn't recognize. She wondered if the other people there would be as discreet about her superheroic identity as the DEO employees were. _Would it be better for me to pop up as Supergirl or Kara Danvers?_

She decided for now to show her civilian side. Upon entering the building, Kara saw that there was a receptionist's desk set up, but no one staffing it as of yet.

“Excuse me, can I help you?”

Kara was approached by one of the individuals she hadn't recognized. She was almost a half foot shorter than her. Her black hair was parted in the middle and even a wary smile couldn't hide her dimples. Kara thought she was cute; despite her height.

“I'm Kara Danvers,” she said while shrugging. “Just looking for my sister.”

Vasquez appeared from a hallway. “It's OK Ms. Sawyer. Kara tends to... hang around.”

“You're Alex's sister! Call me Maggie. You're sister's on the firing range.”

Maggie led Kara into the area of the building that held the firing range. Alex was supervising what looked to Kara to be newer officers. They were younger than the DEO contingent and seemed to need some coaching. When she got closer, Kara could see they were firing odd looking rifles that discharged what she thought might be disruptor bursts. _More advanced than what was being used at the DEO, possibly more lethal too._

“Hey Kara.” Alex introduced everyone and then instructed them to head over to the gym. Apparently Alex had scheduled some sparring for everyone. Kara noticed that Alex took an extra look at Maggie as everyone cleared the area.

“Check it out,” Alex said, holding the rifle up for her inspection.

“Where did you get this?”

“'Experimental', from Lord Industries. Maxwell is supplying a lot of equipment for this.”

Kara wasn't sure how she felt about that so she let Alex continue.

“About the size of the M4 Carbine. Good weight. Not a lot of kickback.”

“Looks dangerous. Can this..”

“Hurt _you?_ ” Alex whispered. “Right now I'm going to say _maybe._ But there are multiple settings. I'm more interested in 'stun'. And check this out.”

Alex took aim at a target, but fired to the side. When the shot went about six inches past the target it dissipated.

“It's equipped to prevent collateral damage or friendly fire scenarios.” The rifle beeped when Alex let go of the handle and beeped again when she grabbed it. “Keyed only for the owner.” Alex seemed pleased.

They started to make their way toward the gym, Kara following slightly behind.

“How many people are you going to have?”

“When done I'm not sure. I want to get this group trained up. I'm thinking Vasquez would make a good team leader. When we get to eighteen I'll re-assess and see where we stand. Maggie thinks eighteen is where we might end up.”

_Hmm._ “Maggie's helping you plan this out?”

“Yes. She works with the Mayor. But she says she'll go into the field with us.”

There was something Kara picked up in the way Alex said Maggie's name. _Is this the girl who's got my sister's interest up?_

When they got to the gym, Kara saw that there were two twelve foot by twelve foot black mats set up. Each mat had a white circle in the middle with a five foot radius. Alex explained to the group that they were going to find themselves in a wide variety of situations. They would be called in, primarily, when there was a MetaSub involved in typical police dispatch. But other than that, she anticipated that their duties would vary. Each person in the room was probably better trained than any officer on the National City police force, so she expected that de-escalation techniques would be utilized.

There would be situations that they couldn't help with. Some MetaSubs were going to be too powerful for them to deal with directly, so they would provide support to Supergirl by means of establishing a perimeter or providing suppressive fire. But there was going to be a “middle area” in which they needed to be trained for physical combat.

“Due to convergent evolution, many individuals we'll encounter will be bi-pedal, upright walking, and two armed,” Alex explained to the gathered officers. “They'll be of similar strength and hardiness regardless of if they are human, metahuman, or alien. Vasquez step up here please.”

Vasquez stood and walked over to where Alex was with her rifle. The rifle was held by a strap that was slung over Vasquez's opposite shoulder.

“Vasquez has our new rifle on her shoulder, a sidearm holstered on her hip, a knife, and a smaller sidearm in an ankle holster. These are our tools. The idea is that if we get in a close quarters fight, we'll win with our tools. So what we want to do,” Alex held her hand vertically and open, then moved it from her chest to Vasquez's, “is get or maintain separation so we can use our tools to win the fight. And remember, with this weapons system, we can deliver non-lethal force.”

One of the younger officers asked, “How am I going to be able to grapple someone with this rifle strapped to me?”

“We don't need to grapple or apply any sort of choke holds. First if we're facing the suspect from the front, the length of the rifle will provide the separation we need. If we have to stun the suspect, we can just stun them. If they come at us from another direction, we can turn at them. Or if they get ahold of us, we use blunt force to create separation and train the weapon on them.”

Alex demonstrated by approaching Vasquez from her right and grabbing the rifle with her right hand and Vasquez's right forearm with her left hand. Vasquez freed her arm with a quick downward motion and then aimed a forearm strike to Alex's head just hard enough to demonstrate.

“See that's a good shot,” Alex said.

Vasquez then grabbed the back of Alex's head, pushed Alex over her hip and to the ground using the downward motion from the initial strike. Alex rolled to her back and the barrel of the rifle was pointed at her.

“That was real simple; she delivered the blow and created space.”

Alex and Vasquez demonstrated several other situations and then the officers paired up. The two DEO veterans worked with younger partners. The sparring work went on for an hour.

“You spar often Danvers?” Maggie asked.

Kara saw Alex grin just so slightly.

“Hard to find a partner,” Alex said.

“I'll spar with you. I wanna see if you're all that.”

“You sure? I think you have it easy in Metropolis.”

“Oh. Now I know we're gonna spar.”

Kara watched as both mats were put together and Alex and Maggie put on headgear.

“Two out of three falls?”

“However you want it Maggie.”

At first they were a bit tentative, but Maggie slowly became more and more aggressive. Then Maggie came after Alex with seemingly everything she had for five full minutes. Each swing caught nothing but air as Alex efficiently moved out of her reach.

“You're really good,” Alex said.

It might not have looked like it, but Kara knew Alex was being serious. She thought Maggie was a skilled fighter. Maggie frowned and then charged at Alex. Alex re-positioned her self and gave Maggie a side kick to the stomach with her left foot. Maggie bounced backward. It was the first attack Alex had made.

“You don't want to do that though,” Alex said.

Maggie charged Alex again and swung at her head with her left fist. Alex grabbed Maggie at the wrist with her right hand, swung the arm downward, passed it to her left hand, put her right leg behind Maggie, moved her right elbow up the arm to Maggie's neck, and delivered a blow that sent Maggie into the air with her legs spread wide and then onto her back on the mat.

Maggie stared with eyes wide up at the ceiling and grunted.

Hartmann gritted his teeth and stared down at the floor.

“That's one fall,” Alex said.

Maggie rolled over to push herself to her feet, and Kara watched Alex take a long look at Maggie's backside as she pushed it upward to stand.

_Yeah, this is the girl,_ Kara thought.

“Oh the things I'm gonna do to you Danvers.”

Kara thought Alex got lost in thought for a moment, but when Maggie came at her again and swung with her right, Alex simply sidestepped her, pushed the arm down with her own right arm, grabbed Maggie by the chin with her right hand and threw her back on the mat.

“That's two.”

Maggie said, “Damn Danvers, you were barely trying.” She began the process of picking herself up.

Alex helped her up and they briefly smiled at each other.

Vasquez pulled out her phone. Alex and Maggie's began to chime as well.

“It's a break in at Lord Technologies.”

Kara tried to quietly back away while they were conferring.

Maggie said, “Maxwell Lord is asking specifically for you Alex. Mayor wants you to handle it too.”

Kara decided to shoot over and see if she could deal with whatever Lord's issue was. Kara didn't see a police helicopter or any sort of transport that could take Alex's team. They could drive their cars there but Kara was hoping to have the issue dealt with quickly.

When Kara as Supergirl landed in front of the Lord Technologies building, it was being evacuated in a very disorderly manner. People were running from the building screaming in panic.

_What does Maxwell have going on now?_ Kara's experience with his drone, the pseudo-clone he created, the incident with his red Kryptonite isotope, and his tying James to a chair and beating him flashed through her mind.

“Is anyone hurt?!” Kara shouted.

Employees continued to run past her, seemingly unhurt. Kara took to the air, flew above the building, and circled it. She began using her X-ray vision to search the building for anyone who could be injured. She made note that Maxwell had several additional sections of the building shielded with lead, but the evacuation of the building was thorough.

Kara took a few more moments to be sure then landed near a group of employees that had gathered.

“What's going on?”

“I didn't see anyone but there was an announcement that someone in the building had a weapon.”

Kara decided to approach the building. Still no activity. She entered the front door and walked into the lobby. Still nothing, except the sound of computers that had been left on. No one on the stairway. No one in the elevators.

She heard the sound of a familiar weapon charge and twisted her body hard to try to avoid the hit. One of two energy blasts grazed her chest and still delivered enough force to toss her through the thick glass door and outside of the building.

_How is_ he _here?_

Kara tried to stand and found that one of her arms was pinned to the ground by a chain. She found that it was just as strong of an entanglement as it was when she last fought him. Inside the building, she saw Master Jailer turn away and lift off the ground, heading toward a set of huge windows.

_You're not going to just fly away._ Kara severed the chain and easily caught up to Master Jailer, happy to find out that his flight speed was nowhere near hers. She grabbed him in the air from behind and threw him back to the ground.

Floating in the air, she thought about flying down and trying to punch him, but, knowing that one blast from his gauntlets had knocked her unconscious and gotten her captured on their previous encounter, decided to try and disarm him. She fired her heat vision into the right arm gauntlet. It was having an effect but the “black star alloy” that his armor was made out of was providing him with some protection.

Master Jailer aimed the left arm gauntlet at her and fired. Kara moved, but part of the blast caught her in her left shoulder. It was painful enough to cause her to fall out of the air and onto the ground.

While she tried to stand, Master Jailer tangled her right arm in one of his chains. Then he fired chains at each of her ankles, entangling them as well. Then he turned to fly out of the door that Kara had used to enter the building.

_This is how he got away before._ Kara hurried to sever the chains with her heat vision.

Master Jailer made it outside the door, then Kara saw him take two shots to the chest from an energy weapon.

_That sounded like one of Alex's disruptors._ Kara finished freeing herself, then looked to see that Master Jailer had been brought to his knees. Alex and Maggie had arrived on the scene and had taken cover behind what Kara assumed was the car they arrived in.

“We need to set it higher,” Maggie said.

“Put it on level three,” Alex answered.

Master Jailer aimed his left gauntlet at them. Kara fired her heat vision into it. He turned facing Kara, with an intent impossible to determine sealed inside his black armor. It didn't matter. He took another two disruptor blasts to his side and this time was knocked off his feet and face down onto the ground.

Kara charged him. He tried to push himself upward and Kara punched him in the back of his head, forcing him flat on the ground again. He tried again to get up with Kara on his back. Again she punched his head, sending him downward and cracking the pavement with the force of the blow. He tried to rise again.

_Wow, you could at least have a concussion or be dizzy._ Kara grunted and punched him in the head again harder, the sound of the impact like a small explosion. Finally he was rendered unconscious.

Alex and Maggie walked over as Kara rose to her feet. “How is this guy out?” Alex asked.

Kara lifted her palms upward and shrugged. “Beats me.”

Alex took a moment to introduce Kara as Supergirl to Maggie.

“How does this guy get kept _in_?” Maggie asked. “He seems pretty tough.”

“It's the armor. We need to get it off him before he wakes up,” Kara answered.

A male voice spoke from inside the building. “I can help you with that.” Maxwell Lord approached them with a smile. His beard had an extra day of growth than how he usually wore it.

“Where have you been?” Kara asked.

“Inside one of my safe rooms. You know, one of those lead lined rooms you undoubtedly saw when you searched the building with those peepers of yours.” Maxwell turned his attention to Maggie. “Good to see you Ms. Sawyer. Better watch out for these two. Wherever one goes, the other isn't too far behind.”

Alex shot him a look. “Was he looking for you?”

“I have no idea. I've never met him before today.” Maxwell gestured at the weapons that Alex and Maggie had slung over their shoulder. “Looks like this fine product from Lord Technologies is working out for you.”

Not in the mood to fight Master Jailer again, Kara said, “Lets get the armor off him.”

Kara watched Maxwell's hands move to the appropriate areas to unlatch the armor's sections.

“This is one of the Fort Rozz aliens right?” Maggie asked.

“All of the Fort Rozz aliens have escaped. They're out there right now roaming around because, once again, the government screwed up.” Maxwell spat.

“They wouldn't have imprisoned him with his armor would they?” Maggie asked.

“No,” Alex said. “You had his armor here?” she asked Maxwell. “That's why he came.”

“Guilty as charged.”

“What were you doing with it?” Kara asked.

They finished removing it and Maxwell stood up. “That involves certain non-disclosures and what not, Supergirl. I'm sure you understand. There's things important people wouldn't want me saying.” He gathered the armor and shoved it into Alex's arms. “In fact, what _am_ I saying? This item was never here. I had no knowledge of it's whereabouts and never did.”

Maxwell pressed a button on his phone. He spoke into it and his voice was carried over speakers both inside and outside of the building. “Everybody back to work.”

As the Lord Technologies employees dutifully filed back into the building, Maxwell walked backward while pointing at Kara, Alex, & Maggie. “Thank you for coming out and safeguarding my property. Alex I'm going to help you get some faster response time. People could have gotten hurt.” He then disappeared into the crowd of employees.

“He seems to have a bit more going on than 'I'm mister concerned, philanthropic citizen.'” Maggie said.

Another squad car arrived and the officers took Master Jailer and his suit of armor in for booking. “Maxwell Lord is always up to something,” Alex said. “Maggie can you take the car back to the station? I'll get a ride from Supergirl.”

“Sure. Nice meeting you Supergirl.” Kara watched Maggie turn her attention to Alex and smile. “See you in a few Danvers.”

Kara watched Alex as Maggie walked away. Alex's attention was focused on the slight sway of Maggie's hips as she reached the car.

“Do you think she's your type?” Kara whispered.

Alex closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh man.” She turned toward Kara. “Was I...?”

Kara gave her slow exaggerated nods. “Yes you were Alex. Wasn't the first time today either.”

Alex blushed. “I couldn't help it, OK.”

_This is going to be fun._ Kara's excitement grew with the knowledge that she was going to be able to relentlessly tease her sister. _I'll help her get more comfortable about it._ “It's fine. Perfectly natural.” Kara took her by the shoulder and they walked further out into the parking lot. “Just don't be the guy looking at everything walking by from their desk going 'heh, heh, hey baby'”

“Oh stop Kara.”

“You didn't answer my question. Is she your type?”

Alex huffed. “Yes. I think so. I think,” she said, “I think about her all the time.”

“Think about her booty?”

Alex laughed, then tried to get serious. “Kara. I think about _her_. She's ambitious, and tough, and vibrant. Yes, OK, Yes. I think about her booty too.”

“Hmm. My sister likes short girls with a tight booty.”

“I don't just like short girls. But I like that _she's_ shorter than me for some reason.”

“You should ask her out.”

“We work together.”

“You're more like partners. And James being my boss doesn't stop us.”

Alex looked at her. “Look at you. Wasn't it not long ago that I was helping you pick out an outfit for a first date?”

Kara lifted an eyebrow. _I still get nervous about what to wear, but you haven't even gotten to the 'asking for the date' part._ “Well, that was then. Now when I'm with James, I tend not to have an outfit on for very long.”

“Kara!”

Kara looked at Alex. “That what I make _him_ say.”

Alex covered her face with her hands.

“Seriously, you should ask her out.”

“What if she says no?”

“Then you can stop staring at her booty all day. We'll find you another lady with a tight booty.” _Trust me, National City has an ample supply._ “And what if she says yes?”

“What if she says yes, Kara?”

“Then you learn what it's like to have a date with a woman. And Alex, there is so much to like.” A couple of quick memories flashed in Kara's mind and her mouth watered.

“Kara?”

_Here it comes._

“Have. I mean, have you...?”

“Yes.” _Many, many times_

“You never said anything.”

“'Hey Alex, guess how I spent spring break?'”

“OK, OK.”

Kara grabbed onto Alex and they lifted into the air. “Now we can talk about it if you want. But for now lets get you back to work.”


End file.
